Lupin or Not
by AlyGranger
Summary: Emily Lupin is a witch living with her sercretive, yet loving, mother in a muggle town. She knows little about magic. When she follows her new friend Jon to shcool she learns about magic, friends...and the father she never knew. dark...mysterious...DONE!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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Emily, a witch living with muggles, has no clue her dad is Remus Lupin. She's not even allowed to go to a magic school. Her mom, Leila, was hiding something until she suddenly died for an unknown reason. When Emily secretly follows her new friend Jon to Hogwarts, what will she find?

In a solitary room in Saint Mungos, the only wizard hospital in England, many people were cured, born, and dying. People were cured of spells gone wrong, or taking a nasty potion accidentally. People died of incurable situations. And of course, like any other hospital in the world, babies were born and breathing their first breaths of life.

But in a single room, where a baby girl had been born but half an hour ago, a decision that would change the courses of many lives was being made. In room 435 in the Hellen Upotherius Ward, sat a husband and his wife who would never see each other again. All this was because of the birth of their child, and because of the horrible timing and position that they were in.

Remus Lupin stood next to Leila, eyes dry but threatening to cry like a waterfall any second. Leila was simply lying on the off-white hospital bed, stroking her baby daughter. As in this world seems to happen often, more was going on there then met the eye.

Lupin gently reached out a hand. The baby's soft, tiny fingers grabbed up at his index finger and held it, making a huge grin on her face.

Lupin sadly smiled back at the little girl with the curly brown locks who was lying in front of him. He would never have the chance to watch her grow up. Never to hear her first words, never to watch her first few stumbling steps.

He lifted his daughter off her mothers lap and held her close to him. He stroked her back, absently, wishing more then anything that he could have had the chance to be the father that he should be.

Emily giggled, showing a toothless grin to her dad. She flailed in his arms and waved around, making guttural noises that only she could understand the meaning of. She flipped onto her stomach, squirming all the while, finally turning back to once again grin at her father.

Lupin cringed guiltily and thrust the baby towards Leila.

Leila took Emily out of Lupin's hands and, in the way that mothers always seem to know how to do, convinced her to settle down. "Honey, you didn't have a choice. We'll be fine without you. Me and Emily." Leila reassured him. "You have to go."

"Yes, but Leila…," he argued, not wanting to abandon his only family left.

"Shh." she shushed her disheartened husband. "You'll disturb the baby. If there was any other way, I'm sure you'd make a great father. But under the circumstances…"

"I know," he lowered his head sadly. "There's no other way. I just wish I could stay with the two of you."

"Remus, look at me," demanded Leila.

Remus Lupin, werewolf and former teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, faced his wife and daughter. The bags under his eyes were growing more apparent. The wrinkles on his face did not represent age, but a great burden. Leila felt her stomach sinking as she looked upon his graying hair and deep, depressed, gray eyes.

"If it had been different…," she started, trailing off yet again. She gave Lupin a desperate look. Then shook her head and took a deep breath. Shaking her head she said, "No. No, this is not going to work. Leave."

Lupin felt as is she had slapped him. "That was too blunt to be kind, dear," he told her, knowing that she wouldn't care.

"That was the point," she replied calmly, looking not at him, but moving Emily's dark, velvety hair out of her eyes. "Go. Go and don't' come back. I can manage."

With one last look at his wife and child, Remus left the room of Saint Mungos, not to see his child again for the next 13 years, and never to see his wife again. Never to see Leila, until he died and floated up to Heaven.

It was 13 years later and Emily lived alonein a house with her mother. The house had been bought and resold so many times that nobody knew exactly when it had been built. It was obviously a very old house because the whole structure seemed to be creaking and falling apart even more day by day. The only thing holding it erect were the four walls leaning in on each other, for the concrete and wood by itself would not have been sturdy enough. The house was missing stairs, windows, and spaces of floor, but Leila and Emily had never gotten around to trying fixing the place up. To them it was a house, and nothing more. The tumble-down old ruin wouldn't be there much longer, and until it actually collapsed, they really didn't care. It was a sad way to live, but they didn't have much of a choice.

Emily attended a muggle day school, which she detested.

"Why can't I go to a magic school and learn magic with other kids! Why can't I be taught by real teachers instead of you, mom?

"Emily, we can't afford it. Even if we could, it wouldn't be safe."

"But why mom? I wanna go to Hogwarts or someplace….!"

Emily found herself being cut off as her mother shushed her gently.

She grimaced as she was pulled into her mothers hug. Someday she would find what all this secrecy was about. 'And maybe I'll find out something about my father while I'm at it.' Emily didn't know who her father was. The only other magic person she knew was her mother, and the only muggles were the people at school who thought of her as weird. Emily had no friends, nor had she ever told anyone she was a witch. It was a very sheltered life, and Emily hated it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chap 2**

The nest day at her muggle school, Emily was sitting down at the table in the corner by herself eating her turkey wrap and fruit, knowing the other kids wouldn't want to sit with someone as weird as herself.

"Hey, um…is anyone sitting here?" Emily looked up to see a brown-haired boy that she had never seen before standing besides her holding a full lunch tray. He must have been new if he was offering to sit with her, because nobody who was used to this school ever would have.

"I guess. If you want to," shrugged Emily.

The boy sat down next to her. "Thanks," he grinned wolfishly at her, and began chomping down his lunch. "My name's Jon. I'm new to Mancini Middle School."

"Well, welcome to the 8th grade," said Emily, sarcastically.

"Thanks," replied Jon, not noticing the sarcasm. "You know, I'm really supposed to be in 9th grade, but when I came to this school they wanted me to start in 8th."

"Good for you."

They sat in silence for a minute, except for the noisy shouts of the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm a jerk just waltzing in here and telling you my life's story. I'm sort of nervous about starting a new school. And being nervous makes you say stupid things you wouldn't normally say. Sorry."

"It's okay. I know the feeling of not fitting in very well. I'm not the most popular girl in school as you can tell."

"I guess. I don't know why you're sitting alone though. You seem nice," replied Jon, fiddling with the plastic bag holding a plastic set of a fork and knife.

"Here, let me help you with that," suggested Emily. She took the bag from him and opened it easily. As she handed it back to Jon she explained, "You get used to these crappy cafeteria utensils after a while."

"Thanks."

"So…," said Emily after a while, trying to make some conversation. "Where were you from before you came to this school?"

"Oh, I was at Du….never mind. It's not a place you would know of. Actually, it was a boarding school. My mums trying to transfer me to a school not far from here, so I'm at this school while we wait for the school to set up for me. They said they'd notify us when they were ready for me to come. Meanwhile, my mom said I might as well go to the local public school. Extra education never hurt anyone. Even though it'll be pretty different from my new school." The boy explained this all while still chewing his lunch. Every few words his mouth would open and Emily would see some of the chewed-up food. As disgusting as this was, Emily didn't mind much. After all, this guy was new, and he was trying to be nice.

"Oh, cool," replied Emily. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be talking to this new boy, but she didn't mind him. Having company was much better then sitting by herself. Even if this boy could be a little gross, he seemed to count Emily as a friend so she didn't mind. After all, she had never had an actual friend before.

The bell rang just as Emily and Jon were finishing up their lunches. The two walked off in separate directions and didn't see each other again until lunch the next day.

Emily walked into the cafeteria the next day, looking around for an empty table. They were all full, but there was a small one in the far corner that has a single person at it. The person turned and waved for Emily to come over.

'Jon,' Emily thought as she walked over with her lunch tray. 'Who else would want to sit with me?' She had a very rough morning. Her English teacher had made her stand up in front of the whole class and recite a poem they were supposed to memorize. Emily forgot the poem entirely. The whole class had laughed at her and, blushing, she had sat down.

"What's up?" asked Jon as Emily sat down beside him. "I never caught your name, by the way, yesterday."

"I'm Emily. Emily Lupin."

Jon spontaneously burst into a coughing fit, almost falling out of his seat.

'I'm sorry," he apologized as Emily helped him sit back up again. "Lupin, did you say? My older brother used to know someone named that. It can't be the same person though. You probably just share the same name."

"Who does he know?" Emily asked, suddenly interested. If Jon's brother knew her father, maybe she could find a way to meet him. Maybe she could finally find out who he really was.

"You wouldn't know him, I'm sure. He's not from around here. I don't think he's ever been anywhere near this part of the country," replied Jon, looking away. "Hey, are you gonna eat that apple? The lunch lady gave me this awful pear. I asked for an apple, but did she care? No!"

"Here," said Emily, distracted, handing over the apple in exchange for the pear. She had really hoped that Jon's brother had known her dad. Was Jon lying when he said the Lupin he knew would never come to a small town like this, or was he being truthful? Emily had always had the suspicion that her father had stopped by the town as a traveler, met Leila and gotten close overnight, and then left. Then Emily suspected Leila had named the baby she received from that one night of lying with a man after the father, which would be why Emily had his last name.

'Maybe that's not what happened?' thought Emily. 'Maybe he really lived somewhere else with my mom and then my mom moved here with me or something? Mom always said she had lived here her whole life and never left this town.'

What if she was lying?

This last though rang in Emily's head. If her mom could have lied about this, what else could she have lied about? It was entirely possible Leila was telling the truth and the Lupin Jon's brother knew was someone entirely different.

As Jon went on and on about apples, pears, and lunch ladies, Emily never even realized that Jon had subtly changed the topic away from Lupin. The thought that he was hiding something never even crossed her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Mom, I'm home!" shouted Emily as she tossed her backpack on the coach. "Mom?"

"One minute, sweetie! I'm trying to find my potato peeler."

"Potato peeler?" Emily asked as she walked into the disheveled kitchen. "Why on Earth would you be using a potato peeler?"

Leila poked her head out from inside a cabinet. "There you are honey! I was trying to make meat stew with potatoes in it. Oh, thank you. Where was it?" she asked as Emily handed her the potato peeler.

"Right where it was supposed to be; in the drawer near the stove. I don't know why we even have it? You never cook! Why today?"

Leila's face, red from running around the beat-up kitchen, turned to Emily and explained, "I was thinking we could have a nice mother-daughter dinner for a change. Talk about school and stuff. Catch up on things, you know? Now where's that pot?"

Half an hour later, Emily and Leila were sitting at the dinner table, beginning to eat their slightly burned meat stew.

"Mom, can you tell me something?" asked Emily, twirling her food with her fork.

"Sure, Emzy. What?" Leila asked, smiling at her only daughter.

"Can you tell me about my dad?"

An awkward silence settled upon the table.

"Ummm…honey, maybe some other time…"

"No, Mom. I need to know, now. Did he come to this town or did you actually live with him and move here? I need to know, Mom! I can't be so ignorant for my whole life!" Emily threw her napkin onto the table. "Please, Mom. Just tell me. It's not going to hurt anyone. I'll understand. Was he a muggle? Why won't you tell me anything about him?"

Emily finally looked up at her mom and started to see tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Leila looked like she felt horrible about not telling Emily anything and having Emily yell at her only made it worse.

"Oh, Mom. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry," apologized Emily, slipping around to the other side of the table. Hugging her mom she added softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Oh, Emily. I can't tell you. It wouldn't be safe," sobbed Leila.

Emily was a little confused but continued to hang onto her mom. 'How could it not be safe' she wondered as she patted her mother on her back. It was as if they had switched places. Emily had become the mother; Leila, the daughter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next day at school, Jon and Emily were once again sitting eating lunch together. This time Emily had been a little less cold towards Jon and offered him some of her tuna sandwich.

Jon grimaced. "No thanks. I hate tuna it's like eating vomit or something. Yuck!"

Emily laughed. "How would you know? It's not like you've ever tasted vomit before."

Jon rolled his eyes. "Well, actually…"

He was interrupted by the tall, stern looking woman standing behind him. She must have been a new employee to the school because Emily sure didn't recognize her.

"What a pleasant conversation, Mr… Granger is it? The principal wants you to come to his office. Your mother is there to pick you up. You're new school has accepted you and she wants you to start packing." The woman, probably the new vice principal or something by the sounds of her, made a face. "Why she couldn't allow you to remain in school for the rest of the day is beyond me. Three hours can't make _THAT _much of a difference."

At that moment the bell rang.

Jon and Emily stood up at the same time.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Emily. Maybe I'll see you again someday?" He said, more of a question then a farewell. He shot her a smile. "Thanks for being friends with me while I was at this school."

Emily looked down. "Same. Thanks for being my friend." She gave a short, hysterical laugh. "Back to the lonely lunch table I guess," she ended, not looking Jon in the eye.

"Well… goodbye, Emily," shrugged Jon apologetically. "I'll write you from my new school."

Then he was briskly led away by the tall woman.

"Yeah…bye," said Emily, even though nobody was left in the empty cafeteria to hear her. She hurried off to her next class alone.

'Shoot! I never asked him about Lupin!' She cursed herself for her forgetfulness but couldn't go back to ask Jon as she was already late for class.

"Hey, Emzy. Ready for the big night?" asked Leila.

Emily grinned. "Ready as ever. Let's start!"

Leila took out a few muggle candles and placed them carelessly on the 2-person cake. "Incendio," she muttered, pointing her wan at the candles. The instantly caught afire.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Emily,"

Emily giggled at her mother's ridiculous singing. Leila immediately began attacking Emily with tickles.

"Happy birthday to you!"

By then Emily and Leila were rolling on the floor in fits of giggles. Emily had almost forgotten that Jon had left just earlier that day, but it was still nagging her in the back of her mind.

Leila sighed. "My little girl all grown up. It seems like just yesterday you were licking the melted chocolate off the chocolate bar wrappers instead of just eating the chocolate before it melted. The good old days."

Emily giggled. "Mom, it was just yesterday!"

Leila mocked astonishment. "Why you're right. I guess I'll just have to deal with you as a slob for another year."

Emily and Leila hugged as they laughed.

Suddenly an owl flew in the window. Leila murmured as she got up to retrieve the letter, "I thought I told everyone to stop sending these."

Emily was instantly alert. Why would her mother be avoiding owls?

Leila scanned the card. She sighed. "Emily, I have some business to do. Do you mind staying home alone for a day or two? I'll have Mr. Kopler check on you if you need something."

"No problem, Mom. Why?" Emil asked, pulling herself off the ground. Mr. Kopler was the cranky old next door neighbor, but he wouldn't care what Emily did as long as he got his sleep.

"Oh, just business. I have to see one of my old friends about something. I'll be back soon enough." Leila had gone over to the broom cupboard and was taking out her beat up comet 270.

"A wizard? Who?" Asked Emily, curious.

Leila shook her head.

"Please, Mom!" she pleaded.

"No!" Leila suddenly shouted.

Emily was silent. Her mother had never yelled at her for asking questions before. She'd gotten a little angry if Emily had been too annoying, but never like that.

"Emily, it's better if you don't know everything I'm doing. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll give Mr. Kopler a call on my way. Behave." She picked up her bags (that had magically appeared, of course, with the flick of Leila's wand) and kissed Emily on the forehead.

Emily nodded and went up to her bedroom. She heard the front door shut. They'd need to oil that door soon. It was starting to squeak again.

She pulled her wand out from underneath her pillow. "Now what am I supposed to do? No friends? My mom left me? I STILL haven't figured out who my father is…" She sighed. "What the heck? There's no point of me laying her until Mom gets back. I might as well get up and do something. Maybe I can figure out where Jon lives and give him a visit. He can't have left yet."

Then a thought crossed Emily's mind and everything clicked into place. "Or could he?" she asked herself quietly. She grinned mischievously.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After finding Jon's address in the school directory, Emily bustled over to his house.

When she rang the doorbell she knew what the reply was going to be.

"Hi, is Jon there?" she asked the hesitant woman looking out at her, who must have been Jon's mother.

"I'm sorry. Are you a friend of his?" the woman asked. Her voice was motherly, but concerned as if she didn't want Emily to come in.

"Yes. I was wondering if he was there. I wanted to say by before he left."

The woman apologetically winced and said, "He's already left."

Her suspicions confirmed, Emily pulled out her wand. "Floo power, I'm guessing."

The woman looked shocked for a second and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, yes, floo powder. Come in. I didn't catch you name by the way."

"Oh, it's Emily. Emily Lupin," Emily introduced herself as she stepped into the house.

The woman broke into a sudden coughing fit. "Lupin, huh? Not exactly a common name. Are you by any chance related to Remus Lupin?"

"Well, I didn't know my dad," explained Emily uncomfortably, not sure whether or not to tell this unknown woman who was Jon's mother. She decided that if she was related to Jon she couldn't be all bad. "My mom wouldn't tell me who he was."

The woman waved her hand dismissively, "Probably not then. The Lupin I know never mentioned family. I can't imagine he wouldn't say anything about his family in all the years I knew him."

Emily nodded. That was a good point. "Well, I was just wondering if Jon had gone yet…and if he was a wizard. Bye. Thank you."

"Your welcome, Emily," smiled Mrs. Granger.

Emily began to walk away, but then stopped. "Which school does Jon go to anyway? He told me he was transferring between two schools."

"Hogwarts, dear. Hogwarts. Which school do you go to?"

"My mom home-schools me. I go to the Muggle school for the rest of the time," Emily explained.

Mrs. Granger waved her along, and Emily walked down the sidewalk. When she heard the Granger's door close behind her, she broke into a run.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts…GOSH!" Emily threw the map book of the magical world onto the bed. "Where the heck is it? It can't just not be…." Emily trailed off. It was probably unplottable. She threw her head into her hands.

Unexpectedly, her bedroom door banged open. A short, somewhat stout man stood in the doorway. He had the features of a rat. He stood hunched over, his long, dirty fingers nails causing Emily to feel nacreous. One of his hands had been replaced by a twitching silver replica. He looked dirty and unkempt, like a homeless dog. There was nothing about this man that made Emily think he could be good news.

"Where's Leila? Where is she?" He leered at her, his hoarse, scratchy voice sounding like nails scratching a chalkboard.

Emily was frozen with fear. "She's, she's…gone."

The man approached her, his nose twitching as if he were trying to sniff her out. "Gone? Gone where?"

"I don't know! She didn't tell me! Please, leave me alone!"

The rat-faced man leered closer to her.

There was an unexpected knock on the front door of the house. The man, looking frightened, glanced over his shoulder and scuttled away.

Before her left, he turned to Emily and said, "The Dark Lord shall know of this." Then he scrambled out of Emily's room.

Emily stared for a minute then broke out of her paralysis. She ran down stairs to answer the door.

"That you, Lupin? You okay? Good! Just 'cause your freakin' mom asked me to check on you doesn't mean you should leave me waiting at the door for hours," grumbled Mr. Kopler. It had only been a minute since he had knocked, but Emily knew he had a bad temper.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kopler. It won't happen again. I was in the middle of something and it took me a while to get to the door." It wasn't exactly a lie. She was in the middle of something, but she didn't' know what or why she was in the middle of this mess. Why had the man been in her house?

"Watching TV, I suppose. That's all you youngsters do these days. That and play video games. Why, when I was a kid we used to play respectable games of stickball and…"

Emily knew that Mr. Kopler was rambling now. "Yes, Mr. Kopler. Kids of today aren't as active as they used to be. Thanks for checking on me. Everything's fine."

He grunted. "It better be." He wobbled home, leaning on his cane.

Emily breathed with relief. Little did Mr. Kopler know, but he may have just saved Emily's life.

As she returned to her room, she began to wonder, 'Why was he here? What did he want with Mom?' For the rat-man had been looking for Leila.

This would take a lot of thought. Meanwhile, if the man was going to tell Voldemort that Emily was here, then it probably wasn't safe. So even if Emily didn't know what was going on, it was probably best for her to start packing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chap 6**

Emily had her bags all ready. She took a deep breath and reached for the floo powder. This was it. She was leaving home. She had put an illusion spell on the door to answer if Mr. Kopler came by. She had called the school, imitating her mother, saying how "Emily's sick in bed with a fever, poor girl. I expect it will be a week or so before she's well enough to return to school. The doctor assured me that plenty of rest was the best way. Yes, I'll tell her you said 'get better'. Thank you for understanding." That way the school wouldn't send the police in to look for her.

There was a note to her mother explaining about the man and how she was going to follow Jon to Hogwarts. She figured there it was safe from You-Know-Who (because the man said he worked for him).

Emily didn't write it in the note, but she also wanted to go to Hogwarts to see if she could figure out anything about her dad. Plus, since she had never been to a magic school before, she wanted to see what it was like.

It wasn't a very well thought out plan, but it might work.

Emily took another deep breath and threw the floo powder into the fireplace.

"The Three Broomsticks!" She cried out. She had to go to Hogsmede because Hogwarts, having taken security measures after Voldemort tried to take over Hogwarts, had spells on it that disallowed people to floo into the school.

Emily stepped into the fire with her bags and found herself in a pleasant room with tables and a bar. Emily walked up to the bar maid and asked, "Is there any way I could contact Hogwarts?"

The barmaid scrutinized her. "A young boy came by earlier asking the very same thing. Take a left when you walk out the door and a few shops down is an owl post shop. You can rent an owl to contact the school. But hurry, it's almost closing time there. Almost closing time here as a matter of fact. Do you need to stay the night? This place doubles as an inn. A doubt you would be allowed into the school at this hour."

Emily thought it over and decided to stay here. She could contact the school in the morning. She paid the barmaid and was showed to a nice room above the pub. She thanked the lady as she closed the door. Tomorrow would be a big day, she decided.

Emily yawned as she exited her room. A person in the room next to her did so at the exact same time.

"Emily?" Emily heard the person ask. She glanced over only to see…"Jon! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in the school by now. Your mother picked you up at lunchtime didn't she? She said you flooed here before five."

Jon just gawked at her. "But…but…I thought you were a muggle…I'm so confused."

Emily patted his back. "It's okay, Jon, I just figured it out yesterday. Then this weird guy came to my house…" she shivered, "but that's not important now. I'm hungry. D'you think we can go downstairs and get some breakfast?"

Jon shook his head. "Sorry, what? I just can't believe you're a witch. Of all the people in the cafeteria that I walk up to and sit with you just happen to be magical also? It's crazy…"

Emily shrugged. "So do you wanna get some breakfast?"

Jon nodded and yelled back into his room, "Dad, I'm going down to get some food."

They walked down to the pub and Jon said, "To answer your questions before, I got here way later yesterday then we planed. I had to get school supplies, like robes, from Diagon Alley. We thought we'd be done before the owlery post shop closed, but there were some long lines. My dad thought we should stay the night and contact the school in the morning." He stopped walking suddenly and Emily almost left him behind. "I can't believe you're here? Why were you at the Muggle school? Are you transferring to Hogwarts too?"

"I guess you could say that," replied Emily. Jon was having enough trouble getting the fact that Emily was a witch through his head. It would probably be too much for him if she started to explain how one of You-Know-Who's men had intruded her house and was looking for her mom. "So, are your whole family wizards or just you?"

"My mum and dad were magic. My dad's dad was a little bit but he didn't go to school or anything. He didn't really realize it until he was older. By then it didn't really matter. I think only my dad, not his brother, got the magic gene. Everyone in that side of my family besides my dad and I is normal and knows nothing about the fact that we're wizards. What about you?"

Emily shrugged. "No clue. My mom's a witch and I'm pretty sure her parents are too. They died when I was pretty young so I didn't really know them. I don't know my dad's side. Doesn't matter anyway. Ooooo…pancakes!" Emily immediately sat down at one of the pubs tables and ordered a pancakes. Jon sat next to her.

"You do know that you just ordered 6 big pancakes." He said, mildly, peering at the small chalkboard that described the few breakfast choices.

Emily gulped. "I did. Oops. I just saw the 2 galleons and figured it would be small. Shoot. Will you help me eat them?"

"Sure. Saves me the trouble of ordering."

After eating the delicious pancakes and having Emily introduced to Jon's dad, the three walked to the owlery post shop. Mr. Granger sealed Jon's already written note while Emily quickly described her situation on another piece of parchment. 'Please let them accept it,' she prayed. 'Please!' If Hogwarts thought she was a random person asking to come into Hogwarts for no reason, they would never let her come in.

She finished signing "Emily Lupin" and handed the letter to Jon's dad. He tied the letters to the owl's leg and off it flew.

"Let's go get some candy at Honeydukes while we wait for replied, shall we?" asked Jon's dad, grinning. "I remember when I was in Hogwarts. Honeydukes was the main place to visit. They have every candy imaginable there. I can't wait to show you, Jon!"

Emily, Jon, and Mr. Granger had just finished up at Honeydukes when an owl came over to land on Jon's shoulder. The letter it held read:

Dear Mr. Granger and Miss Lupin,

The school is sending down a teacher to the main gates to allow you into the school. We are pleased to accept both of you into Hogwarts, despite one of your's unusual situation. Please report to the headmistress's office as soon as you are able. I will show you to her office upon your arrival.

Assistant Headmaster,

Filius Flitwick


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hey, Emily. Don't look so nervous. It's only school," joked Jon. He still didn't know the whole of Emily's story. If he had, maybe he'd be a little more serious.

Emily shrugged and looked again at the castle. Why had she come here? Her mother didn't want her to, but why? Was there actually a reason? After the rat-man had come looking for Leila, Emily had started to suspect that a lot of secrets were being kept from her.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" asked a strange sounding voice from inside the gate. A very short man scrambled into view. His appearance immediately reminded Emily of a goblin (she had seen one once in a map book of the wizarding world, but had never actually been to Diagon Alley).

"Hello, Professor Flitwick," Mr. Granger greeted the assistant headmaster of Hogwarts.

The small man jumped. "I say, Phillip, is that really you? You've grown so much since you were at school."

Phillip smiled down at his former teacher who was unlocking the gates to the school.

"Sorry about that," apologized Flitwick. "You know what happened to Hogwarts last year, I presume. Jon's dad solemnly nodded his head.

Emily was confused. "What happened last year?" she asked, curiously, thinking 'Great! More secrets!'

Flitwick jumped again. "Why...You-Know-Who entered…I'll leave that to Minerva to tell you that. Professor McGonnagal's been waiting to see you. She'll explain everything you need to know. Well, maybe not everything." He chuckled. "Oh look! We're almost at the school. Granger, are you coming in or leaving now?" he asked Mr. Granger.

Jon's dad hugged his son goodbye. Afterwards, Jon gave Emily a hopeful look. "Guess we're in the hands of the school now."

Emily shrugged and looked back up at the enormous castle. If it weren't for her own eyes she would never believe that a building could be that enourmous.

Flitwick hurried the children into the school. They walked past magnificent portraits that moved and spoke, students in black robes giving them questioning looks, and up moving staircases that seemed to lead everywhere. Hogwarts was an amazing place compared to everything Emily had seen before in her life.

Finally they arrived at a stone gargoyle.

"Acid pops," said Flitwick confidently. Emily was momentarily confused by this odd statement until the gargoyle moved aside to allow the three into an office.

In the middle of the office sat a stern looking woman with her brown hair in a tight bun. She wore witch robes and a tall, hat. She seemed very cross, but the way she smiled at Jon and Emily and waved for them to sit down in the chairs facing her desk was reassuring.

"Now, Mr. Granger, Hogwarts has accommodated for your arrival. Your classes, however, because you weren't sorted when we had to make room for you, are with all four of the Hogwarts houses. I'm sure your dad has told you about the houses- Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff."

Jon nodded. Emily was totally lost.

"Miss Lupin, Hogwarts was not ready for you so we don't even have any plans for your classes. I suppose you could just go to the same classes as Jon. That may be easiest on the teachers. Now, to see which house both of you will be in, we'll need the sorting hat." She reached behind her desk and pulled out a beat-up, old wizards hat. She stared at it expectantly.

Suddenly a mouth broke out of the folds in the hat. "Sorting two more, I see."

McGonagall replied curtly, "Yes. Please sort Mr. Granger and Miss Lupin." She placed the hat on Jon's head. Both the hat and Jon sat in silence for a minute. A puzzled look appeared on Jon's face after a while. A few seconds later the hat exclaimed, "Gryffindor!"

Jon rubbed his head as the Headmistress placed the hat on Emily's head.

"A Lupin, I see. Your father would be very proud of you coming here."

Emily was shocked. Even this old hat knew more about her dad then she did. 'What do you know about him?' She asked in thought.

"Oh, I don't' think I could tell you that," said the hat, sounding amused. It seemed that only Emily could hear what it was saying for the teachers and Jon didn't have any reaction to what the hat was saying. "You'll find out soon enough anyway. Just because I sit in this office all day doesn't mean I'm not aware of the people who have been in this school. Anyhow, I think your sorting is a simple one. You're not aware of any of the houses. I know you wouldn't want to be in Slytherin. They're not your type at all. You're almost a mix of the rest of the houses. Brave Gryffindor, brainy Ravenclaw, loyal and friendly Hufflepuff. Hmm…but you are a one of a kind girl. How about…" The hat cleared it's nonexistent throat so it could pronounce the house Emily would be in. "She should be in…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Hufflepuff!"

Emily removed the talking hat that had slumped over her eyes, and found herself looking at disappointment on Jon's face.

"Very good," said McGonagall, taking the hat from Emily.

"Sorry we're not in the same house, Jon. At least we have classes together."

Jon shrugged sadly. "Yeah, I guess. But not knowing anyone in my house is gonna suck!"

Emily comfortingly patted his shoulder as McGonagall shooed them out of her office. "This way to the Gryffindor dorm." She briskly started walking towards a steep stairway down the hall. Jon and Emily ran after her.

They walked through the amazing castle. The stairs moved, the portraits talked- it was all so fantastic! Just as they were passing through a spacious hall, Emily heard a girl's voice shriek, "Jon!" Emily turned to see where the shocked voice had come from. Across the hall was an older girl with bushy, brown hair and two boys the same age. Her face was similar to Jons. It had the same gentle curves and full cheeks that gave her and Jon an appearance of being serious, yet kind.

Jon stood wide-eyed next to Emily. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought…I thought you were a muggle!" With his voice he was trying not to scream. He was obviously incredibly confused.

"Well, that makes two witches mistaken for muggles by you," smirked Emily.

The girl attacked Jon in a hug.

A cold feeling formed in Emily's stomach. Who was this girl? Why was she hugging Jon like that?

The two boys who had been standing with Hermione, a brown-haired boy and a red-head, also looked shocked. The red-head clenched his fist and looked ready to punch Jon.

Jon, smiling, turned to Emily. "Emily, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Hermione Granger, the smartest girl in the wizarding world."

Hermione blushed and waved away his compliment. "I can't believe you're here! Of all the people in our family I would never have suspected you were magic too. And why in the world did you come in the middle of the year?"

"I transferred from Durmstrang."

Something in Emily's head clicked. Jon went to a school that used to be very involved in the dark arts. Her mom mentioned it once when she was telling Emily about her pen pal when she was in school.

"Oh," Hermione looked stunned. "Were you here for the Triwizard Tournament three years ago?"

"No, I was too young. I heard what happened though. Viktor Krum came. He's out of school now. I heard he met a really pretty girl at the Tournament."

Hermione blushed again. "That was me."

Jon's jaw dropped. Then he burst into laughter.

"What?" asked Hermione, insulted.

"I just never thought…" Jon said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"How come you didn't know your cousin was a wizard?" asked Emily suddenly.

Hermione shrugged. "I just figured nobody else in my family was magic. Nobody told me anyone else was magic. My parents sure didn't know."

Jon explained, "Grandpa had magic, but he never told your dad. He felt bad, because your dad had gone past age twelve and not gotten a letter. My mom's a witch, but we all figured the rest of the family was muggle. All those holidays we thought we had nothing to discuss…figures!"

Hermione giggled.

"Hey, have you heard about that Harry Potter. He's supposed to go to this school. Poor guy's been all over the newspaper lately. The Boy Who Lived and everything…"

Hermione's red-headed friend laughed and punched his friend. The brown-haired boy shot him a look.

Hermione shook her head and beckoned the two boys over. "Jon, these are my two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

Emily froze. Probably the most famous wizard in the world, Harry Potter was standing right in front of her as if he was a normal guy. This was the same baby who had overthrown Voldemort. What was he doing here? Wouldn't he go to some fancy, private school for wizard heroes or something instead of Hogwarts?

Harry nodded with a smile at Jon and Emily. Ron gave a little wave that went alone with his huge, friendly grin.

"So what house are you two in?" Hermione asked.

"I'm in Gryffindor and Emily's in Hufflepuff," started Jon, "but we're both going to have classes with all the houses because we came so late in the year."

"That's great!" squealed Hermione. "You'll be in the same common room as us, but three years younger. Emily, I know some Hufflepuffs and they're all really nice. Ernie MacMillian is a bit pompous, but he's nice. So are Hannah Abbot and Padma Patil. You'll like that house."

"Hermione, we gotta go," said the red-head, Ron Weasley, nudging her in the side. "If we're late again…"

"Right," agreed Harry Potter. (Emily still couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her)

With a wave, the three raced off to class.

"You two, hurry up! I don't have all day," ordered McGonagall crossly from a doorway. Emily and Jon followed her to a portrait of a very large lady in a frilly, pink dress that current-day witches wouldn't be caught dead in.

"Bye, Emily. See you at dinner," smiled Jon, after the headmistress had showed him how to get into his common room and had asked the 5th year prefect to show him his room.

McGonagall led Emily to another part of the school. Down a short set of stairs was a tapestry. Unless you said the password, nogtail, the tapestry would be stuck to the wall. Once you said the password you could pull it back to reveal a giant hole in the wall which led to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Just stay here for a few minutes before going up the stairs to the left. The house elves are making your bed and bringing up your bags….I mean, bag."

McGonagall turned and left, leaving Emily alone in her new house. Who knew how long Emily would stay at Hogwarts? Until she found her mom or the man in her house was settled, it wouldn't be safe for her to go back. So what would she do until then? She'd have to wait and see.


	9. Chapter 9

"GOT YOUR CONK!"

Emily sat up as something grabbed her nose and shouted in her ear. A floating man, in a strange, colorful, yet almost transparent, outfit cackled at her surprise and zoomed away.

Emily yawned and checked her watch. She had fallen asleep waiting in the common room. Going to her new dormitory, she saw there was a single bed in the corner that had been made and had her bags lying on it. She collapsed onto her four-poster and sat up looking around.

The other girls in this dorm must've come from very different backgrounds. One of them had a lacrosse poster hanging beside her bed. Another had a picture frame holding a photograph of a smiling, black woman and man hugging their two daughters. One of them looked about Emily's age. Yet another bed had a heavy book about dragons lying on it. The final bed caressed a beat-up, pillow that was so used that there were clumps of stuffing in it, instead of one big mass. Next to it was a stuffed Dalmatian toy that had seen many years of love, and hugs. It was a bit odd for a 14 year old, but Emily herself knew of a few others in her school at home who slept with stuffed animals.

A sudden worry swept Emily. She had actually left home. This wasn't a game. 'What a creepy thought!' she decided.

As if on cue, two chatting girls entered the room. They stopped when they saw Emily.

"Who are you?" one of them asked. It wasn't mean, it was just kindly curious.

Emily smiled and stood up. "Hi! I'm Emily. I just switched to this school, with my friend Jon."

The girl who hadn't spoken earlier looked at the other girl and smirked.

The first girl rolled her eyes. "Fine, you were right." She turned to Emily and explained, "Luciana here had told me a rumour about a boy switching to Hogwarts. I said there were so much gossip around this school that it was impossible to tell truth from fantasy. Apparently that one was truth. Fine, I owe you candy, Lucy. Here, take it." She stuffed a bag of jellybeans into Luciana's hands. The Argentinean-looking girl stuffed her prize into her pockets and smiled at Emily.

"Gabrielle was wrong. We bet on the rumour."

Emily laughed. Her new roommates didn't seem so bad. Lucy the her books onto the bed with the stuffed dog and beat-up pillow. Gabrielle sat on the bed with the picture of what must have been her family. She was there in the picture, smiling foolishly with who must have been her sister. The poster with the lacrosse team on it must belong to another girl in the dormitory who was a muggleborn. Lacrosse was definitely not a wizarding sport.

The girls began a long discussion on everything from rumours to pets to how amazing Hogwarts was.

"You get used to it after a while," shrugged Gabrielle. "Then it's not so overwhelming."

Luciana shook her head. "I don't think you ever really get used to it. The ghosts always make me shiver, and the moving doors and knights can be really confusing. There's so much going on in this castle that it's impossible to know it all!"

Emily smiled a bit. Her mother had once told her the same thing about life. "There's so much going on in it that it's impossible to know it all. Or to keep up with it," Leila had said sourly after receiving a letter from the electricity company how her bills were late. She had been busy recently and had forgotten all about the electricity bill.

Suddenly Luciana's stomach rumbled. "God, I'm hungry. Wanna go own for dinner?"

Three of the four Hufflepuff fourth years walked to the Great Hall, stopping only for Emily to introduce Luciana and Gabrielle to Jon, who had come down with Hermione.

"How's your house?" whispered Emily as they entered the Hall.

Jon looked away. "It's okay, I guess. I don't know anybody though besides Hermione, and she's been doing homework the whole time. I almost think I should've stayed at Durmstrang. I wish you were in my house."

Emily poked him. "Too late for that. See you later," she said as they walked to their separate houses tables.

The Hall grew noisy as the remaining students entered. Once McGonagall stood up, students began shushing their friends and the noise fell to a light whisper.

"Good evening, students. I would just like to welcome two new students to our school and remind certain 7th years NOT TO LIGHT WEASLEY'S WILDFIRE WHIZ-BANGS IN THE DIVINATION TOWER!"

Two boys, who Luciana later identified as Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan covered their mouths, laughing. 'Troublemakers,' thought Emily, inwardly sighing. In every school there were those who liked to fool around. When she pointed this out to Gabrielle, the reply was, "You should've been here when the Weasley twins were here. Now they were real troublemakers!"

Emily thought back. "Isn't there another Weasley at the school? A red-headed boy who's friends with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger?"

Luciana and Gabrielle giggled (Emily was beginning to notice that they did this quite a lot). "Yeah, that would be Ron Weasley. He's the Gryffindor quidditch team's amazing keeper," explained Gabrielle.

"Yeah, and Gabby here thinks he's _gorgeous_!" Luciana joked.

"I do not!" retorted Gabrielle, still smiling guiltily.

"I've never played quidditch before." Emily yearned to play the popular wizard sport, but she had never had a broom, a field, or any wizard friends to play with.

"You haven't?" asked Gabrielle, dropping the turkey she had speared with her fork.

Emily shook her head sadly.

"Well, then where's a broom? We'll teach you."

As the meal went on, Emily's gaze began to wander. She saw Hermione in a deep conversation with Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table, and Jon picking at his food. Poor guy- he hadn't found friends like Emily had yet. Emily's eyes wandered up to the teachers table. An incredibly large man was sitting at one side of the table drinking some wine from an expensive looking glass. Next to him was another large man, who was freakishly tall and hairy. A few seats down was a female teacher with huge glasses that magnified her eyes. She looked uncomfortable like she didn't sit in the Hall very often. Next to her was the goblin-like wizard, Professor Flitwick, who had brought Emily and Jon up to the school. Emily's eyes kept wandering, but one man stood out to her more then any other. She wasn't sure why. His robes looked a little more old and worn then the other teachers, and perhaps he did look a bit pale, but nothing about him really seemed to stick out. But there was something in Emily's mind that was saying: "_Look here! Look here!"_ 'What's so special about him?' Emily asked herself. He should've been just another teacher, but there was something about him that was…familiar.

Her train of thought was instantly cut off by Luciana pulling her into a conversation about cute boys in Hogwarts and how there didn't seem to be very many, especially in their year. Emily glanced one last time at the teacher and then was grabbed back into the gossip with her new friends.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Groaning, Emily rolled over in bed.

"Time to get up, sleepyhead!" teased Gabrielle.

Emily tossed her pillow at her.

"Do you _want_ to be late for class?"

Emily sat up at the new voice. On the bed with the lacrosse poster was the final Hufflepuff fourth year girl. She had wavy, red hair and hard, blue eyes. She looked a little bit annoyed.

Emily yawned. "No, sorry. By the way, my name's Emily. I just switched to this school."

The red-head smiled apologetically, "I'm Genny. Sorry if I seemed a little bit annoyed. I'm an awful grouch in the mornings."

Luciana rolled her eyes. "It didn't help that you got in around midnight last night. What were you doing- snogging with Seamus?"

Genny shrugged and pulled on her sweatshirt. It had a picture of a lacrosse stick on it, just like her poster.

"Oh, so are you muggleborn?" asked Emily, thinking it would be nice if somebody else in her dorm knew about the muggle world.

Genny's smile immediately disappeared. "No, I am not." With that she turned her back to Emily and resumed brushing her hair, but refused to talk any further.

Luciana shrugged at Emily and mouthed, _'Don't mind her!'_ Then aloud, she said, "we'd better get going. We have Herbology first. What about you, Emily?"

Emily scanned her schedule quickly. "Potions." 'Oh, well. At least it'll be with Jon,' she thought.

The girls went their separate ways outside the tapestry

Emily found Jon waiting for her in the Main Hall and they somehow managed to find their way to Potions by asking all of the other students. It began to get embarrassing when two first years they had asked whispered as they walked away and one started laughing. Eventually they made it to class, but by then they were really late.

"Oh, no matter. You'll catch up soon enough, I suppose. Now, I'm guessing you both know elementary potions skills," asked the jolly, large teacher who had introduced himself as Professor Slughorn.

Jon thrust his chest forward proudly. "I went to Durmstrang and was top potion-maker in my class."

"Wonderful, m'boy! I knew you were natural at potions from the moment I saw you, Mr….ummm…sorry, I don't think I caught your name."

"Jonathon Granger," answered Jon proudly, shaking Slughorn's hand.

"Oh, ho, ho! Another Granger. Not related to the brilliant Hermione granger, of course, are you?"

Emily was starting to get slightly annoyed by this teacher's pushy personality.

"She's my cousin," grinned Jon.

"Well, I'm sure you must be brilliant like her, then, oh?" Slughorn slapped Jon on the back. "And what about you?" he asked, unexpectedly turning to Emily.

"I know…some potions. Mostly I know from the books I've read, but I don't think I know very much about it."

Slughorn looked thoughtfully around the room filled with Ravenclaws. "Hmmm…might be a bit of a problem. I suppose you could just work with your friend, Mr. Granger, here. I'll get you both books and you can use the extra cauldron in the back of the class. What's your name, girl?"

Emily showed him a little smile. "Emily Lupin, professor."

Slughorn looked amazed for a second, but quickly recovered. "Oh, so you're _HIS_ girl, eh?" He winked at her, but Emily had no clue what he was going on about.

He shoved Emily and Jon towards the back of the class, handing them each beat-up copies of a potions book titled, "Mixing and Brewing; Level 4".

"What was he talking about?" Emily whispered to Jon as he pulled out his potions ingredients.

Jon shrugged, but wouldn't meet Emily's eye. When she kept bothering him about it all class, all he would say was, "It's not anything important, probably," which Emily took as, _"It's important, but I just can't tell you."_

Emily's potion-making skills were, if anything, mediocre. She could mix the potions fine, but she didn't have the best memory, and cutting perfect, little pieces wasn't exactly a skill of hers.

Finally the class ended an Emily exited the smoky room, sweating.

"Now what?" she asked as they breathlessly climbed hundreds of steps to reach their next few classes. The stairs kept moving, so Emily and Jon couldn't memorize where each class was very easily. One day they could go up the steps to their right and the next they had to climb the stairs to their left.

Charms and Transfiguration passed by, without any problems. Leila had taught Emily most practical magic she would need, which included most spells done with a wand. The transfiguration teacher, Mr. Hite, explained what the class was trying to do to Emily without her even asking. Flitwick, in his jittery, little way, gave Emily an extra book so that she wouldn't have to buy one. "You can keep it," he said when she mentioned she's return it as soon as she had bought her own copy.

Emily and Jon reached lunch feeling satisfied. They had only gotten lost once.

Emily found Genny sitting with Luciana and Gabrielle. Careful not to bring up Genny's parentage, she asked, "How was your day? Mine went pretty well, I guess."

Gabrielle scooted over so that Emily would have room. "It was good. I just found out that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is a werewolf from Dennis Creevey, though! Can you imagine that? It's scary!" She shivered as if just the thought gave her the chills.

Luciana gave her a look. "Gabby, everybody knew that in our first year. Apparently he had taught the year before, but left when the old potions teacher leaked what he was." She leaned in as she eyed Genny and Emily as if this piece of gossip was too juicy to let everyone hear.

Genny shrugged. "I had heard, but really don't give a damn. He teaches well, he must be safe or he wouldn't have been hired, and he has classes that are far more interesting then most."

Emily glanced up at the teacher's table. "So which teacher is he?"

Genny pointed at the teacher with the shabby clothes, and pale face. However, today he wasn't looking quite as pale.

"One more calls, then freedom for a whole afternoon!" shouted Luciana happily, attracting some glares from the Slytherins at the neighboring table

"Yeah, but first we have to get though Defense Against the Dark Arts. What do you have, Emily?"

Emily glanced at her schedule with Genny looking over his shoulder. "I'm with you this period."

"Awesome," cheered Luciana.

"You last name is Lupin?" asked Genny, sounding disbelieving.

"Yeah, why?" Emily asked, sharply. Why were there suddenly so many people in her life who recognized her last name?

"Oh, nothing really. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has the same name.

Emily's heart leapt. Could it be? Lupin wasn't a very popular surname.

"He's dating some lady who's like 20 years younger than him."

Emily's hope faded. If he was so desperate to be dating someone so young, he could barely be his mother's lover. Leila was in her forties or so. A man who liked young woman couldn't be much older than her mom, so the chances would be small…and a little awkward.

"Well, go get your boyfriend and you can walk with us," stated Luciana matter of factly, digging through her bag.

Emily blushed. "Oh, no. Jon's not my boyfriend. We're just friends."

"Mm, hm. Sure you are. Go get him, I wanna get good seats."

With a sigh, Emily got Jon and they all made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts easily.

The thin, teacher with the ragged robes began to take roll as the last few students strolled into class. As he called each students name, they raised their hands and he would check off their names. When he reached Emily he started, "Lupin,…hmm, that's odd." He looked up to see Emily raising her hand, shyly.

Their eyes met and something clicked. Lupin dropped his papers, his mouth still open in shock.

Emily met his gaze with an unwavering stare. She knew this man. He was her dad.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

For a time, they gaped at each other. Students began to whisper between themselves and the teacher immediately broke eye contact.

"Oh, you must be a new student," he said calmly as if nothing abnormal was going on. But Emily could feel the fear hidden in his voice. "I suppose I should get you supplies from my office. Please follow. Class, read page…"

He was interrupted as Jon raised his hand. "Professor, I need supplies too."

Surprised, but able to keep the calm glamour that he had created, he invited Jon to his office too. "Everyone else, page 486. And don't skip anything; I'll be giving you a quiz on this afterwards!"

The class groaned, but pulled out their books.

Jon and Emily walked to the doorway at the side of the class where Professor Lupin was standing.

"So, Jon, I thought you were at Durmstrang. Did your mother decide to make you switch schools?"

Jon nodded, silently. "Sir, what's going on with you and Emily?"

"Em-i-ly." Lupin tasted the name on his lips, and shook his head. He shuddered, groaning, "Emily, why are you here? You were supposed to never come to Hogwarts!" Half-crying now, his hand was shaking, and he had gone as pale as a full moon.

"And how was I supposed to know that?" asked Emily, sourly.

"Your mom…"

"My mom never told me anything!" snapped Emily. "She barely taught me to do magic. I was living with _muggles_ all my life. Sure, I knew not to come to Hogwarts, but where _else _was I supposed to go when that creepy rat man came to our house. I…"

Lupin's head shot up. "Rat man?"

"No, I'm sorry, did I say rat? I meant lovely, little doggie that scared me out of my house and made me come running to Hogwarts. No, wait a second. Hmmm…maybe I DID say creepy rat man. I suppose, it's just a possibility and I could've said cute, little dog, though!" she screamed at him.

"Emily, stop being so loud," hissed Jon, trying to pull Emily into a chair.

"Calm? How am I supposed to be calm?" she shouted. The curious noise of the students from outside the door grew louder.

"Emily," said Professor Lupin, the name sounding awkward coming from his mouth, "if the creepy, rat man you claim you saw is real, then we're both in danger. And your mom too. Where was Leila when all this happened?"

Emily was sitting in the chair Jon had forced her into, breathing hard. "How should I know? She said she went to visit old friends about something important. She left our thousand-year-old neighbor to watch me, but I can take care of myself. That's why I followed Jon here once I figured out he was a wizard."

Now, Jon too fell into a seat. "You followed me?" was all he could ask.

Emily nodded, tears in her eyes at this point. "What else was I supposed to do? Wait until the creepy, rat guy came back with You-Know-Who? He was seriously (Sirius-lee) evil."

"Yes," said Lupin, curtly. "Yes, you should've waited at home. You should've sent an owl to your mom, or gone to stay with your neighbor. Coming to Hogwarts was one of the stupidest things you could do."

"His bluntness shocked Emily. "But I don't have an owl," she said, quietly.

Lupin sighed and began to pace the room.

"Professor, I think the class is waiting…" Jon began

Lupin walked out of the room, leaving Jon and Emily.

Jon mouthed to Emily, "What was that about?"

Emily sighed, "He's my dad."

Jon nodded, as if that made perfect sense with the conversation that had just went on.

Lupin reentered the room. "I have dismissed the class. Both of you follow me to McGonagall's office." He said without feeling. Then he muttered, bitterly, "Because she was too busy to notice the danger herself. She could've at least told _ME_."

Emily and Jon rushed after their angry teacher, both worried and unsure.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Minerva, Dumbledore wouldn't have kept this from me!" Lupin shouted at the new headmistress.

With a stern look, McGonagall replied, "I felt it was necessary not to tell you…"

"Why!" interrupted Lupin, going to pieces. "She's my daughter for Merlin's sake. You know that her being in Hogwarts puts everyone in danger. Why didn't you just send her back home?"

"And have me murdered by the creepy, rat man? Nuh-uh. Not fun-sounding," Emily irately complained.

McGonagall slumped in her seat, her head falling to her hands. "Look, I'm sorry. If Dumbledore were here he'd know what to do- but he isn't here, is he? I apologize, but now you know. What are you going to do about it?"

Lupin opened his mouth angrily as if to answer, but shut it after a second, looking confused.

"Exactly," muttered Emily.

"Professor, can I interrupt?" asked Jon. "Why can't Emily stay here in Hogwarts? It would be the easiest answer, right?"

Sighing, McGonagall pointed at the door, "Just go, Mr. Granger. This does not concern you. It's too complicated for the ears of a child."

After Jon had left, Emily angrily turned to McGonagall and jeered, "So, he's a child, but I'm not?"

"Miss Granger, you will watch your mouth unless I say so. I invited you into Hogwarts, I can just as easily throw you out."

Emily shook her head and lay back in her chair, "No you can't."

McGonagall ignored her and finally said to Lupin, "Well, it's too late now. What are you going to do?"

Lupin looked around as if searching for an escape room- then he sighed. "I suppose I have to tell Emily what's going on, although there are some parts I'll leave for her mother to tell."

Emily's jaw dropped; she couldn't help it. After all these years she was finally going to find out why she had only 2/3 of a family. She was going to know the truth. And best of all, she would hear it from her dad.

sorry it's so short. I promise a long chapter nest time though


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Last Chapter

Lupin looked around as if searching for an escape room- then he sighed. "I suppose I have to tell Emily what's going on, although there are some parts I'll leave for her mother to tell."

Emily's jaw dropped; she couldn't help it. After all these years she was finally going to find out why she had only 2/3 of a family. She was going to know the truth. And best of all, she would hear it from her dad.

End of Last Chapter

Lupin sighed, "It started when you were just born, Emily. You were a cute little baby, so adorable- but in huge danger...

Flashback; Lupin

"Leila, how are you doing?" he had asked her.

She had glared at him. "I can't stand up and my belly practically needs a room for itself. How am I _supposed_ to feel?"

Lupin had smiled at her, just as the door rang.

He had ran to get it, and opened it to see someone unexpected.

"Hello, Remus," Dumbledore had nodded.

Remus had opened the door to welcome in Hogwart's headmaster at the time, closing it behind him.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. What are you doing here of all places?"

Dumbledore looked solemn. "I know you're still getting over the death of Lily and James Potter," (Lupin rubbed the back of his neck guiltily) "But I need to tell you some information I just received about You-Know-Who."

Lupin's head shot up, and he could've sworn he heard Leila scuffling towards the door in the next room over. "You know who's followers are after you. They know how close you were to Sirius, James, and Peter. You have to leave you home, or they'll find you and your family."

"But Dumbledore!" he had begged, distress beginning to take over. "My child will be born any day now. My wife's in no shape to leave the house, and I can't drag my family around the country for the rest of their lives."

"Then leave them here. They'll be safe."

Lupin wailed in anguish. "I can't! I can't leave them. Please, Dumbledore- you must understand."

Dumbledore sadly looked upon him. "I understand, but if Voldemort were to somehow come back into power," (Lupin shuddered) "He would come after you and your family. He would think you would know what went wrong that night. Besides me, who would know better then the family he tried to kills, best friend, and someone who's active in the order."

Lupin gulped. "I suppose,…suppose…there isn't any other way? Any way I could protect my family?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not any you would like."

Leila came in from the other room. "Dumbledore, please. I want Remus to be safe," she cast him a loving look, "but I also want our baby to be safe too. I have one idea…I don't like it, but it may be the best."

Leila told them the idea.

"No!" exclaimed Lupin immediately. "I can't let you do that. I couldn't let my baby grow up without me."

Leila shook her head. "It's the only way. You will leave me to take care of the child, and go somewhere else. If I don't receive any new information, You-Know-Who most likely won't go after me."

"And if he does?"

"Then I'll go into hiding. But our child won't grow up afraid its whole life. You-Know-Who and his followers won't want her if she doesn't know anything."

"Ah, but that's not true," interrupted Dumbledore, calmly.

"And why not?" Leila asked, turning indignantly to him.

"He could use her against him, even if she doesn't know anything about him. She'll have to live in a town with muggles, away from both of you. I know it would be hard, but neither of you should know her. I hate to separate you from your child, but this is the only way Voldemort can't find her. I promise to check up on her and make sure she lives a good life. Maybe once Voldemort's overthrown…"

interruption of flashback

"But, Professor, I didn't grow up totally with muggles. I lived with my Mom. There was nothing like that!" Emily interrupted.

"If you'd let me finish my explanation," glared Lupin, "then I could tell you."

"Now, Remus. Calm down. She's curious, and you've got to admit she has the right to be."

"Oh, what's the point!" shouted Lupin, banging his hands down on her desk. "It doesn't matter if she knows or not. These memories hurt. I couldn't raise my daughter or live with my wife. Now, you expect me to go through all those pains again?"

It took Emily a second to remember he was talking about her. It was the first time he had referred to her as his daughter outright.

Lupin stomped angrily out of the office.

Emily turned to the headmistress, who sighed. "Dumbledore tried to talk them into it, but your mother insisted on staying with you. She was stubborn as a mule. I remember when she was in Hogwarts." McGonnagall smiled, thinking back. "She was incredibly bright, but had such sarcasm! Anyhow, Dumbledore left your parents house, thinking that they wouldn't listen to him, but right as you were born they decided to split up for your safety. Remus looked for a job, which was hard for him. Leila stayed with you and moved to a muggle town. I don't know what she told you," she said, looking away as tears formed in her eyes, "but I know she must have hated lying to you. Wherever she is now, I'm sure she's frantic about leaving you alone. She must have figured they wouldn't take you. Silly girl." She shook her head. "You were lucky your neighbor saved you. To think, if he hadn't come…" she choked on her words. "But Leila must have had an excuse. She always does."

Emily sadly looked away. She missed her mother. '_Where is she right now?' _Emily asked herself. '_Does she miss me too?'_

"You'd better get to your common room," McGonagall said unexpectedly. "You friends might be worrying about you. Is everything okay at Hogwarts so far?"

Emily nodded. "Yes, thank you. Good bye, Professor."

Emily left the room and returned to her dorm. When the other girls asked where she had been, she didn't reply. She had too much to think about, and too much to deal with.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Poor you, Emily! I can't believe what you've been through!" Emily and Jon were sitting in a broom closet near the Great Hall. Emily had wanted to tell him what had happened without the other girls leaning over her shoulder. "The rat man, almost being raised by muggles." He shook his head. "It's crazy!"

Emily had explained everything to him. He was her closest friend so far, and that meant she couldn't keep secrets from him. If it was something girly, like who fancied who, then she would keep it to herself. But if it was important, like Emily finding out about her dad working at Hogwarts, she would find a way to tell Jon no matter what.

"I know. It's totally insane! Why the hell did I have to be the person born into this craziness? I…"

The door was suddenly opened by a tall, Gryffindor boy who was at least a sixth year, but probably a seventh year. He was good-looking with dark, messy brown hair, and charming, deep brown eyes. His nose was small, and dainty, looking almost too feminine for his face with his longer then usual eyelashes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize anyone was in here." His voice was enchanting, but playful in a "mature" way. "I'll just leave you two alone, eh?" He winked at them and began to close the door.

"No wait!" called Emily and Jon at the same time, jumping up. They hurried out the door.

"What? Are you done in there?" asked the handsome boy jokingly.

Emily mentally sighed. Why did everyone at Hogwarts think there was something going on between Jon and herself? "We weren't making out, if that's what you think. We're not 'together' or anything."

Jon nodded in agreement.

The boy looked surprised. "Oh. I didn't think there was any other use for a broom cupboard."

Emily pushed her way past him, dragging Jon along. "There are lots of other ways to use broom cupboard. The key one; HOLDING BROOMS!" She marched off towards the Hufflepuff stairway.

"Hey, sorry," called the boy after her.

Jon shot him an apologetic look and raced after Emily.

"Hey, Ems. You didn't have to get so insulted. It's natural that snogging was the first thing that came to mind when he saw…"

"Oh, shut it, Jon! We were talking. He shouldn't have barged in like that."

Jon shrugged. "Have it your way. I'm gonna go back to the Gryffindor Tower. I'll see you later, okay?"

Emily waved and continued towards her common room.

The week rolled on, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Emily's classes went normally. Professor Lupin acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and never brought up that Emily was his daughter. Emily learned nothing more about why her mom raised her. She had been too busy to ask Lupin, with all of her new homework and all of the catching up she needed to do. Jon helped her whenever possible, and Genny never hesitated to assist her on a spell or essay. Luciana and Gabrielle would gossip, and loved when Emily would join them.

"So, then I said, 'Hey, is that my potions book?' and he was like, 'Yeah, it is. Whatcha gonna do about it- curse me?'"

The girls broke into laughter, adding to the deafening noise of the Great Hall.

Emily felt somebody tap her shoulder. She was surprised to see the handsome boy who had discovered her and Jon in the broom cupboard.

She ignored him before he could say anything.

"Hey, Seamus. What's up?" asked Genny, in a smooth, playful voice. "Did you come to ask me on another date? Ice-skating in Hogsmeade was so much fun." She laughed a high, fake laugh. "If only I could do it again." She seemed to be hinting at something to the boy, Seamus as she had called him.

Seamus smiled and sat on the bench next to her. "It was a once in a lifetime chance, baby. But for you, I guess I could make an exception."

Genny smiled at him.

Gabrielle pretended to gag.

Luciana nudged me and whispered, "Seamus and Genny have been going out for about a year. They get so gross sometimes. It's weird. Seamus didn't used to be this….obnoxious. I wonder what happened to change that?"

"So, how about next Hogsmeade trip? You, me, Madam Puddifoots?" She asked, lovingly.

Seamus grinned, mischievously. "Sounds like a date, lovely Genevieve." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Genny giggled.

The meal continued. Afterwards, Emily said to the other Hufflepuff fourth year girls, "I'll see you later. I have to find a book about polyjuice potions from the library."

They waved goodbye to her, and she left the Great Hall.

Emily had been wandering around for a few minutes, when she entered a gloomy looking corridor and heard the door slam behind her.

"Hey, baby. What're ya up to?" asked a threatening, but familiar male voice from behind her.

Emily spun around. "Seamus? What are you doing? Open the door- it's pitch black in here."

"Exactly, sugar. That's the point." His voice leered closer.

Emily tried to run to where she thought the door was, but slipped and fell into Seamus's arms.

"Where are you going, girl? You just got here. Sit down and stay for a while!" He pushed Emily to the floor. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, Emily saw the once handsome boy menacingly approaching her. He eyes opened wide in fear, and her heart frozen, she was unable to move.

"So, Emily, how does it feel to be privileged like this by me?" He asked, his voice coming from right in front of Emily now.

Emily's paralysis broke. She screamed as if her life depended on it.

Somebody broke through the door.

"Stupefy!" she heard, at the same time as a scream that sounded an awful lot like Genny.

She floated into unconsciousness as she heard a loud thump where Seamus had just been standing. What happened next she was unsure of. The stunning spell must have missed its target and hit her instead. She was in fates hands now.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Emily groaned as whitewashed walls appeared around her. She blinked and the room came into focus. She was in the hospital wing with Luciana and Gabrielle leaning over her.

"I think she's awake," whispered Gabrielle, sounding as if far away instead of sitting on the end of the bed.

Emily tried to ask, "What happened?" but found herself instead saying, "Need water."

Luciana handed her a pitcher of water on the table next to the cot. "Well?" she asked, excited.

Emily drank. "Well, what?"

"Well, sleepyhead, you've been out cold for a whole day.

"I have?" Emily dropped the water jug in shock. "Why didn't anyone wake me?" she asked, scrambling to get out of the bed, only to find her legs shaking and her balance unstable.

"We tried. Professor Lupin did "enervate" to you, but you didn't wake up. Madam Pomfrey says its because so much anger was forced into that spell and you were thrown into the wall."

Now that she mentioned it, Emily did feel a large lump on the back of her head. "But…what happened?"

Luciana was unsure, and looked at Gabrielle for an explanation.

"Seamus locked you in that corridor with him. When Genny and Lupin heard you scream, they knocked the door down. Lupin was so mad that he punched Seamus in the face. He's also in the hospital wing. His face was a bloody mess when he got up here. We were waiting for you to wake up so we could know what happened. Seamus was awake, but he refused to say anything. Did he do something that could get him kicked out of the school?" asked Gabrielle, anxiously.

"I hope so," commented Luciana. "He was really nice last year, but for some reason this year he's been a terror to all the younger students. He acts normal when he's with the Gryffindor boys his age, though, like Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

"Could he be under the Imperius spell?" Emily had always thought it obvious that if somebody's personality changed a lot in one year, it couldn't be for natural reasons. Somehow, Luciana and Gabrielle seemed shocked.

"I…I never even considered….oh my god- you're right! That would explain so much! I saw him chatting with a Slytherin the other day, something he had never done before this year. But if he was, then why did he go after you?" Gabrielle asked herself, sounding incredibly confused and dazed.

Emily had some suspicions why, but the other Hufflepuff girls hadn't been in McGonagall's office with her. "What about Genny? What did she do?"

Gabrielle winced. "When she saw you and Seamus…she kinda figured it was your fault. She….didn't really understand…"

"She wants to kill you for stealing her boyfriend," interrupted Luciana, matter-of-factly.

"But I didn't!" Emily cried.

"I know," shushed Gabrielle, "But Genny saw you two together and after that corny show Seamus had just put on for her, why would she have believed it was your fault? She knew him longer than she'd known you."

Emily sighed. This was to confusing for her. First of all, what would happen if Genny found out Seamus was the guilty one? Would she ever forgive Emily? Second of all, why would an Imperiused Seamus want to date Genny? Was there something about her that, just like Emily, the Death-Eaters resented or wanted?

"I…gotta talk to Professor McGonagall." Emily said, convincing herself everything would be settled.

"We'll go get her for you," agreed Luciana, dragging Gabrielle after her.

Not even a minute later, Jon poked his head inside the Hospital Wing door. "Emily, are you in here? Luciana told me you had woken up."

Emily sighed with relied. She had needed to talk to Jon. "Over here!" She told him all her suspicions about Seamus, and Genny.

Jon looked a little reluctant to believe her. "So you think Seamus is working for the Death-Eaters now?"

"Yes!" cried Emily, exasperated. "He's under the Imperius curse." She heard a shuffling coming from the other side of the hospital wing and lowered her voice. "Apparently, Seamus was really nice last year. How could he have changed so much over just one summer?"

"Maybe something happened in his family, and he's just taking it out on the younger students," suggested Jon.

"But he's going out with Genny. And he was coming closer to me like…" she shivered. "I don't know, but it was awful, Jon!"

Jon snapped into focus. He seriously asked her, "He didn't…do anything, did he?"

Emily stared for a moment, unable to understand him. Then she laughed, "No, nothing. Professor Lupin and Genny came before he did anything sinister.

The door swung open and McGonagall strode in, followed by Luciana and Gabrielle.

"Oh, so your boyfriend made it, did he? I told him to come visit you on my way up." Luciana winked.

Jon and Emily blushed. "He's not my boyfriend," replied Emily, knowing there was no way Luciana would listen.

"Miss Lupin, I assume you can tell us what happened in the corridor?" McGonagall inquired.

Emily told her about Seamus locking her in, and how she suspected he was under the Imperius curse from what Luciana and Gabrielle told her. She left out the part about why she thought Seamus was dating Genny. That was too trivial or her, and probably not very important. When she was finished, McGonagall nodded and said, "Thank you for telling me this. It may help the school in the long run. If you're feeling well enough, you can leave the hospital wing. There's nothing more Madam Pomfrey can do for you."

As she and her friends left, Emily could've sworn she heard Madam Pomfrey ask, "So, Mr. Finnegan. You're finally awake then."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

That night in the Hufflepuff common room, Luciana, Gabrielle, and Emily were trying to finish their homework.

"What's the use of garlic against vampires?" asked Luciana, completely confused.

"Look it up. It's in this book, here." Gabrielle tossed a heavy book at Luciana.

"But I couldn't find it in there," whined Luciana.

Emily sighed. "Here, you can look at my paper."

At that very moment Genny walked into the room. "Hey," she said as she slung her bag over an armchair nearby.

"Hey," the others answered.

"Genny," Emily began. "I'm sorry about Seamus. I swear it wasn't me but…"

Genny shook her head. "I know. He confessed that it was his fault. He was a creep anyway." Genny said this, but refused to look anybody in the eye. "I'm sorry I blamed it on you, Emily. I was just so mad and I never thought that…"

"It's okay," shrugged Emily. "So what's happening to Seamus?"

Genyn shrugged. "I don't know. McGonagall brought him to her office, the creep. He's still claiming that he wasn't up to anything sinister. He says he was trying to get you to help him with his homework."

"But I'm three years younger then him!" said Emily, disbelieving.

Genny nodded. "That's what McGonagall said, too. She didn't believe him."

"So, who're you going out with now?" asked Luciana, as if Seamus was already yesterday's news.

"Well," Genny smiled mischievously. "That Gryffindor, Brian isn't all that bad looking."

Later at dinner, Emily visited the Gryffindor table to talk to Jon.

"Hey, Emily, I heard about the whole…Lupin thing," said Hermione, who had been sitting next to Jon. She mentioned it as if it were an awkward topic.

"So it's already gotten around the school?" Emily asked, conversationally. She mentally smacked herself. Of course it had! This was Hogwarts! Gossip got around faster than a Nimbus 2001!

Harry looked confused. "What Lupin thing?"

Hermione sighed. "You are so clueless sometimes, Harry, you know that?"

Another Gryffindor boy leaned into the table, "What Lupin thing?" he asked.

Harry pushed him away. "Don't' talk with your mouth open, Neville."

Neville shrugged and stuffed more pudding into his mouth.

Hermione turned to Harry, "You mean you seriously don't know?"

"Don't know what?" he asked angrily.

Hermione winced. "Well, Emily is Lupin's daughter. She just found out herself, but…oh, I'm sorry Harry. You couldn't have known."

Harry was sitting with his mouth open staring at nothing. Hermione waved her hand in front of his eyes, but he didn't even seemed to see her- he just got up and left the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" asked Jon.

"Professor Lupin was one of Harry's dads best friends. Lupin was getting to be one of the closest things to a father for him. Imagine how it feels being told that he already has a child."

"I wouldn't know," said Emily tonelessly. "I never knew I had a father."

"Harry doesn't either, but everyone he comes to think of as a parent dies. Sirius Black, Dumbledore, his real parents of course…it must be hard on him to discover that another person he thought of as family is gone from him."

"He's not gone!" Emily retorted.

"But it won't be the same now that he knows Lupin already has family," Hermione explained wearily.

"Hey, isn't Lupin going out with Tonks?" interrupted Hermione's other friend, Ron.

Emily's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't dare."

"No, I think he is," assured Ron.

Hermione slapped him. "Ron, you're so oblivious sometimes!"

"What?" he asked.

"He wouldn't dare do that to my mom. I thought he said he still loved her and missed her." Emily's anger was building up. She felt as if she'd soon explode.

"I'm sure he's not serious about her?" Hermione tried to comfort her, hopelessly.

"WHICH HER? My mother or that Tonks person you're talking about," Emily roared.

A few Gryffindors looked down the table at her, but most of the school didn't notice due to the loud chatter of the other students.

"Emily," Jon tugged at her shirt, "Sit down!" At some point, Emily had stood up and was leaning angrily over Hermione.

Emily sniffed and marched out of the Great Hall. Jon called for her to wait up, but she ignored him and kept walking.

Out of the corner of her eye she also saw Seamus stand up. Apparently he hadn't been expelled from that school. 'What kind of lies did he feed to McGonagall to make her decide THAT?" she thought angrily to herself, making sure to run up the stairs so he couldn't catch up to her- just in case.

Blind with tears and stumbling up the steps, Emily crashed into someone. Not bothering to apologize she race past them and up the flight of stairs, not knowing where they would lead her.

Eventually she came to a window facing the Great Lake, and stopped to catch her breath.

"Hello, my dear. What would you be doing up here at this time of day?" asked a mystical voice behind her.

Emily leaped around to see a mystical looking teacher, wearing a long shawl and glasses that magnified her eyes. She recognized her as Professor Trelawny, although she would never really get used to the site of such a strange teacher.

"Would you like some tea?" asked the teacher, motioning to a trap door in the ceiling.

"N- no. I'd better find my way back down to my common room. I didn't mean to come up here." Emily stuttered.

"No, I insist. I was just about to brew up a cup anyway." Professor Trelawny motioned her to climb the ladder that had fallen from the trap door (which had mysteriously opened by itself). She and Emily climbed into the stifling hot room and Emily took a seat on one of the poofy chairs.

"Now, let's see, blue teacup, or pink?"

Emily chose the blue. Trelawny, smiling, handed it to her. "So would you like to learn what secrets the future holds for you while you're up here?" she asked Emily after they had sipped the tea for a few seconds. It tasted somewhat bitter, but it made Emily feel a little better. It probably contained a calming draught.

Emily shook her head a. "I'm sorry. I really have to be going…" The real reason she wanted to go was because her friends had all told her what a loon Trelawny was.

"But my dear," the teacher's eyes widened. "You have not yet witnessed the great potential of the future."

"No, really. It's okay. I can always witness the potential later. I gotta go," Emily explained hastily.

She left the room, unsure of why she even went in it in the first place. Then it hit her, "Professor Trelawny, can you tell the past as well as the future?"

Trelawny's brow furrowed. "I suppose…oh, why not. Come back up, and I will see what I can do."

So Emily went to see if Trelawny could tell her the truth about her father's heart. According to her friends, it would be completely wrong, but who knew? Maybe this lunatic of a teacher would know the truth.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Emily sat at the crystal ball, looking into it's depths. She saw nothing but swirls of mists. "Am I supposed to see something?" she asked Professor Trelawny, confused. Trelawny pushed her away. "No, no, that would be my job. For I posess the Inner Eye and I shall be the one to search the crystal ball."

Humming happily, Trelawny gazed into the ball. Emily watched. Nothing happened.

Trelawny gasped dramatically, "I see good fortune in your future." She smiled knowingly. "A very good future indeed."

"Is there anything about my dad?" Emily asked impatiently.

"You dad?" Trelawny dropped the mystic act. "What do you mean 'your dad?'

Emily sat uncomfortably. "I thought….maybe you could tell me if he really loved my mom."

Trelawny sighed. "Your dad left your mom?" she said, quietly. She looked sad, and distant, not like the psychic she usually pretended to be. Her hands were folded softly in her lap, he eyes tearing as if remembering a painful memory from the past. "Mine did too."

Emily was unsure of what to say. Should she comfort the teacher that she barely knew, or correct her for thinking that her dad had deserted her mom by choice? Despite what other students said about Trelawny belonging in an asylum, she was really just in almost the same position as Emily. Their fathers had left, but for different reasons.

"Did you ever see him?" Emily asked, carefully. She didn't want to hurt Trelawny's feelings.

Trelawny sniffed and sipped some tea. "Once. At my mom's funeral. He didn't look like he wanted to be there. He was so…horrid to her, leaving her to take care of a baby all by herself."

Emily pitied her. She quietly said, "Mine too." She looked down at the floor. "He left my Mom soon after I was born. He couldn't stay. My Mom told him he couldn't."

Trelawny sniffed, and then grinned weakly. "Unusual. Usually the person who leaves is the one who doesn't want to stay." She shook her head. "Was you Mom nice?"

Emily nodded. "She was wonderful. She went away for a bit, and I ran away to here. I just wanted to get to know the world better. Mom hadn't told me anything." Tears dripped down her cheek. Trelawny offered Emily a handkerchief and she dried them off.

"Poor girl. We're both going through this together. You're new to Hogwarts, and I may as well be considering how the other students and teachers treat me. They say I'm a freak, and I know they do." She patted Emily's hand. "Fell free to come any time, dear. It was nice having someone to talk to, if only for a little bit. You had better be going back to your room."

As Emily left she glanced back, to see Trelawny staring emotionlessly out the window at the dark, gray sky.

Emily didn't tell her friends about her visit to Trelawny. She didn't want to hear them rattling off about what a crazy, old bat she was.

The next day was Saturday, and Emily needed the time to catch up on her work again. She was on her way to the library when she found Professor Lupin on his way to the Owlery.

"Professor, may I ask you something?" Emily had thought about it, and the only way to know the truth was to calmly ask him, without getting emotional.

Lupin put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Sure," he said, and led the way into his classroom. Emily sat down at his desk, in the chair across from his.

"So Emily, what did you want to ask about" Lupin said, folding his hands on his desk and looking interestedly at Emily. She found it hard to believe he was her father. True, he had the same bad temper as him, but he was much less wild than her. "You crashed into me yesterday looking quite upset."

Emily blushed. "That was you? Sorry."

He waved it away.

Emily took a deep breath. Could she really do this?

"While was at dinner, I ummm…heard you were going out with…ummm….I don't really know how to say this. Lupin slumped backwards in his desk. "Oh, please God, no. You heard about Tonks and me?"

Emily gulped and nodded. Would he be mad?

Lupin shook his head. "You're just like me, you know that. So curious and you'll never give up."

Emily hadn't been expecting that. "Oh," she breathed, "Right." She wasn't used to being referred to as just like him. She still had trouble thinking of herself as related to him. Her mom falling in love with him- maybe she could see that. But the whole father-daughter thing would take some getting used to.

"Well, I didn't think I'd ever see you or your mother again, and I figured I should just move on. Tonks began begging after me, and at first I wasn't so sure. I told her I was too old for her, not good enough for her," he frowned. "But you'll know all about that I'm suspecting. Anyhow, I was nervous. Eventually Molly Weasley convinced me to get on with my life and go for her. You know Ron Weasley, right? He's best friends with Hermione, who's your friend Jon's cousin. Molly would be his mother."

"Professor, speaking of Ron and Hermione…and Harry…Harry seemed really upset when he heard I was your…" she didn't know how to put it without it being too awkward.

"Your father?" He finished, as if it was nothing. He frowned. "No, knowing Harry, I suppose he didn't take it well at all. He's probably moping around the Gryffindor Tower right now. I should probably go talk to him." He sighed. "I used to be best friends with Harry's father. James did the impossible just to be with me. He taught himself, along with Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, how to become an animagus." He looked dreamily off into space. "Thos were the days. We were always getting into mischief."

Emily grinned. Always getting into mischief, eh? Well, she did that more times then he would ever be able to imagine. Just take her coming to Hogwarts for example. If that wasn't mischief, what was? "So, is that why you know Harry so well?"

Lupin's childish grin dropped. "No, James and Lily, Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort. Then he tried to kill Harry, but failed. I met him later when I first taught at Hogwarts. Didn't Leila ever tell you about the famous Harry Potter?"

Emily nodded. Leila had told her a bit, but not that Emily's own father had been best friends with the dad of "The Boy Who Lived." Emily definitely didn't know as much about the story as other wizards did, living in a town full of muggles.

Lupin sighed. "Well, at least she did that. I wonder where she is now?"

Emily had been wondering the same thing, and she told him so. "She got a letter from a wizard friend and left almost immediately. Then the creepy, rat guy came and-"

"You mean, Peter," Lupin interrupted.

"Huh?"

"His name is Peter Pettigrew. He used to be my friend," Lupin's face darkened, "Until he joined Voldemort."

Emily shivered. The Peter Pettigrew man was so creepy that she could hardly believe he had been good, or friends with Lupin.

"Your mother probably left because she was informed that Peter was coming," Lupin sighed. "But why did she have to refuse to take you? That's just like her, but why? It would've made everything simpler if she hadn't insisted on keeping you clueless. She probably thought Peter would see her leave and try to find her, leaving you alone in the house. From what it sounds like, he just missed seeing her and was surprised to see you. It's almost good that you came to Hogwarts. Voldemort won't look for you here."

"But neither will Mom," Emily said as it dawned on her. "She'll think I'm back at home if she goes back." She stood up hurriedly. "I gotta go back there!"

Lupin followed suit. "It could be dangerous for you and for her. I'll go tell McGonagall."

Emily ran up the stairs, stopping when she found Jon, Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

"I'm coming too," said Jon stubbornly after Emily had quickly explained everything to him out of breath.

"Fine, but get your stuff and hurry. We're leaving ASAP," Emily ordered.

"We'll come too," offered Hermione. Harry and Ron looked shocked. "We will?" asked Ron.

Emily shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. We're just looking for my mom."

Harry sarcastically said, "Yeah, you and your chum of a dad going to explore the world. I'm gonna stay here, Hermione. Ron, you can go if you want."

Hermione glared. "At least go to help Emily. This is about the whole dad thing isn't it?"

"I just wish he had told _ME_!" shouted Harry. "At least me, of all people, that he had a daughter!"

"He wouldn't have told anyone because he barely knew himself. He was trying to forget about my mom and I anyway!" Emily replied, growing more and more irritated by the second. "And it was none of your business so you should just bug off!"

"Yeah, well, have fun. If Voldemort's done off with your mum, don't come whining to me, 'cause it's not 'my business' anyway! Have fun with your DAD" shouted Harry. They had attracted the questioning looks of some passing second years.

"If you're so 'close' to him, you're welcome to him! He's barely my father for leaving my mother and I and totally forgetting about us!" Emily yelled.

"Emily, he had to. It would've put you in danger if he mentioned you to anyone. They could've let it slip to a Death-Eater." Hermione tried to calm her, clinging on to Harry's shoulder.

"So tell, Harry, that! Why should I care what he thinks anyway? I'm just going to make sure my mom's not worried about me!" Emily screamed at her.

"If she's even alive anymore," muttered Harry.

"You…little…creep! You take that back NOW!" Emily shouted, shooting a jinx at Harry under Hermione's arm.

Harry tried to shoot a jinx back at her, but it hit Ron instead. Ron instantaneously grew long antlers coming out of his head with so much weight that he started to fall over.

"Guys! Stop this! This argument is so pathetic! Just give it up already, will you? Pretty soon McGonagall's gonna come down here thinking that there was an explosion or something!" Jon begged. Out of breath, Emily and Harry stared at each other. Emily glared at them all and pushed past so she could get some of her stuff from her common room.

Fifteen minutes later she found Lupin, Jon, Hermione, Harry, and Ron waiting for her in the Entrance Hall. Harry looked a little sour, but when Emily reached the landing he strode up to her and said, "Sorry about earlier. I talked to Lupin, and I'm really sorry I got so mad. It was stupid."

Emily shrugged. "It's fine." They smiled at each other and joined the group.

"You ready, Emily?" Lupin asked.

Emily nodded.

Lupin sighed, "Then your mother's in for a big shock. Poor Leila. She'll have a heart attack seeing me again."

And then they were off.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"How much farther?" asked Ron. They had been traveling on their broomsticks for at least an hour. There was no place they could floo to near the muggle town.

"Just a few minutes now. The town will be in sight just over this hill. Be careful not to be seen!" warned Lupin.

"So have you been here before?" asked Emily.

"Only once to visit your mother. You had just moved in and were very young. She made me leave almost immediately. She said I might be leading Voldemort to where you were." The sadness in Lupin's voice was almost unbearable. Emily searched his eyes for an explanation. He really missed his family. He risked his happiness to keep them safe. There was no way he could have left them for Tonks. He must've truly believed he would never see them again if he had gone out with her.

The wind blowing in Emily's face, making her short brown hair fly back and whip her neck, Emily began to recognize the landmarks of where she had grown up.

"There's the stream I would play in when I was 9!" She pointed out excitedly to Hermione. "And there are the woods that I would practice levitating things in! God, it looks so different from up here!"

"Look, Emily, Mancini Middle School!" cried Jon, pointing to the place where they had met.

"Hard to believe we were there just a few weeks ago," Emily shrugged, her eyes wide. "Look, I think I see Sarah Levanthal! Remember her, Jon? She was in my homeroom and lives just down the street from me. I'll be right back."

Emily flew down behind a house and dropped her broom on the ground.

"Sarah!" she cried.

"Emily?" Sarah looked confused. "Where've you been? Everyone's been looking for you. You and your mom, that is."

"What, what do you mean?" Emily asked, a little worried now. "My mom's not at home?"

"Emily," she began, slowly. "You haven't been to your house lately, have you?"

"No," Emily chuckled unsure. "Why? It's not like…did something happen to it?"

Sarah gulped. "You may want to sit down."

Emily shrugged. "It can't be that bad. What happened?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "A few weeks ago there was an explosion there. The authorities think there was a bomb, or some kind of pipe broke and caught fire. They said it was like nothing they'd ever seen before. Emily,…you're whole house is gone."

Emily couldn't believe it. She didn't take anything in. Sarah was calling her name sounding concerned, but to Emily it was just dull noise in the background. 'My house?' she thought. 'Of all things Voldemort had to take, he had to take my house. Why couldn't he have taken my life instead? I don't think I can live without…my mom! Where was she when this happened?' Emily felt light-headed.

"Sarah, I gotta…gotta go. Thanks for telling me, okay?"

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked, as if Emily was going to faint any second.

Emily nodded. "I'll be fine. I need to do something quickly. Was anything left of my house after the explosion?"

Sarah replied, "No. It was weird. There's just a large scorch mark where your house used to be. Your neighbors' houses look a little blackened on the sides, but it's nothing some paint can't fix. I'm sorry Emily."

Emily walked back behind the house and mounted her broom. She found the others waiting nearby and tonelessly told them what happened.

"Was Leila there?" asked the upset Lupin.

Emily shrugged. "I…I don't know." She struggled to admit it, but Voldemort could have already destroyed her mom for all she knew.

The sympathy on Harry, Ron, and Hermione's face was embarrassing. Jon's look of shock made Emily want to cry. Lupin's eyes were closed and he appeared to be praying or something.

Emily turned and ran the block and a half to her house. She couldn't understand how what had once been her run-down house, nevertheless still her home, was now completely nonexistent. There wasn't even a board of wood left. Mr. Kopler's house next door was completely intact. Emily wandered onto her property. Something caught her eye in the middle of the property.

Walking over, Emily found a note with a green snake on it. Feeling sick, she picked it up and examined it.

"Hey, you girl! Get off of there! That's a crime scene. Didn't you see the yellow Do police line?"

Emily tucked the note in her pocket and found a chubby policeman yelling at her. She actually hadn't noticed the police line. She had ducked under it without thinking.

"Sorry," she apologized, climbing over it.

"You'd better be," growled the cop.

As Emily left she opened the note. The paper was green, and felt almost slimy. Emily felt disgusting just touching it, but she read on:

"Dear Miss Leila Lupin,

I know your secret and you won't escape me this time…"

Emily gasped before she even finished reading the letter and began to run back towards the group. "Professor, professor, she's alive!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Everyone was laughing and hugging when Emily told them the first sentence of the letter.

"What else does it say?" asked Harry after a minute.

Emily looked down. "It says:

Dear Mrs. Leila Lupin,

I know your secret and you won't escape me this time! You may have fled, but now I that know about your daughter you and your husband will succumb to me. I know that you're no longer here and as I just arrived I found her for myself. You will never see her again unless I command. You and your husband are under my control now, so unless I am given the information you have received your daughter will soon be dead.

The Dark Lord Voldemort."

Underneath was the Death-Eater symbol, the snake coming out of the skull's mouth.

Emily chuckled, "Empty threat. He didn't even know where I was." She looked up expecting to see everyone else smiling, but no one was.

"What?" she asked.

"Emily, if your mom has seen this letter, which she probably has by now, she'll have given in or come looking for one of us," explained Ron. Emily almost smacked herself. Even Ron had figured that out before her.

"Well, it's not like she's gone straight to Voldemort or anything," shrugged Jon. "So what should we do now? Look more or go back to school?"

"She could be anywhere!" cried Hermione.

"Hmmmm….well, I think-" Lupin cut himself off. "What was that?"

Emily listened and she heard it too. There was a soft rustle in the bushes. She amrched over and parted them. "Genny?" she was shocked. Had genny followed her here?

Genny guiltily shouted, "Wait! I can explain! Really, I can…"

"Go on," ordered Emily. "After all, we all know you really followed us halfway across the country to ask for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Is that right, Miss Genevieve the Stalking?"

Genny huffed, "I did not stalk you."

"Then why are you here?" taunted Emily.

"Well,…I…" Genny seemed really hesitant to admit anything. "It's sort of complicated…"

"I thought you said you could explain!" laughed Harry with a huge grin. "I can explain! Really!" he imitated her in a high-pitched voice. Laughing, he and Ron high-fived.

Genny made a face at them, "Well, if you must know, I followed you so I could help you look."

"Sure you did, Genny. And that's why you hid in the bushes, right?" Emily rolled her eyes. "You thought my mom was hiding in there? What a great place to look! It's a wonder you haven't graduated Hogwarts yet for being so amazingly brilliant!"

"Your mum probably couldn't have hid behind there for long anyway. You know how impatient she is," chuckled Lupin.

"Why do you call your mum 'mom'?" asked Hermione as they mounted their brooms. They had decided to return to Hogwarts. They'd figure out what to do later. Genny had borrowed a school broom which had fallen apart after the hard trip so she was sharing a broom with Emily.

"Well, my Mom was raised in Canada. She moved to England when she was older. I was born here so I have a British accent, but I still grew up with the North American version of mum."

"Oh, and how did you meet Jon then? It's such a huge coincidence from what he told me. There has to be more to it."

Emily shrugged. "What fate wants, fate gets."

Genny laughed. "You sound as loony as Trelawny."

Emily remembered the sadness in Trelawny's eyes when she had talked to her. "She's not really all that loony. She's actually quite nice. You shouldn't have judged her like that."

Hermioen snorted. "Please! On our first day of class she insulted almost everyone and repeatedly told Harry he was gonna die. That's not the best first impression and considering how mad she was the rest of the year didn't help much."

"I heard," Genny giggled, "That she doesn't even have the Inner Eye."

Hermione shot a look towards Emily and Genny's broom. "That, I can tell you for certain, is a lie. She made some absolutely," Hermione shivered, "Absolutely dreadful prophecies. I've seen them come true. Just ask Harry. He can tell you how much he's heard her prophecies and how often they've been right."

Emily kept quiet. She had learned from the other students the rumour about the Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. She had heard that it basically listed Harry as a marked man from the beginning. Of course, it was a Hogwarts rumour and probably only half true.

"Oh, my god! There's someone flying behind us! Did we leave anybody?" asked genny suddenly.

Emily looked around. "Nope, everyone's here. Who can that be?"

The wizard behind them looked up and saw the three girls looking at him. He swooped behind a tree as if he didn't want to be seen.

"I could've sworn that was…" Genny started quietly. She shook her head, "Nah!"

"Who did you think it was?" asked Emily, a cold feeling growing in her stomach.

"Well, it sort of looked like Seamus, but that's impossible, right? Why would he wanted to have follow us?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20!**

The laughter of the Hogswarts students was contagious. It was a beautiful winter day that all of the students 3rd year and above would be spending in Hogsmeade. Right before the students were allowed to leave, Lupin had surprised Emily with a filled out permission slip. She hadn't even considered needing it. It somewhat shocked Emily to hear that the teacher was one of her legal guardians.

"Hey, Emily, think fast!" shouted Luciana.

Suddenly a cold, wet ball of snow smacked Emily in the side of her face.

"Grrrr!" growled Emily, but unable to keep away laughter. "You'll pay for that one!"

The Hufflepuff girls got into a huge snowball fight right near the door of the Three Broomsticks. The irritated villagers eventually convinced them to clam down and go inside for a drink. Wet and joyful, the entered the pub.

"Hey, Emily! Over here!" called Jon. He was sitting with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Did he still not have any Gryffindor friends his age?

The girls joined the table and soon multiple conversations were going on.

"Did you hear about Ernie MacMillian? Parvati Patil claims to have seen him and Hannah Abbot snogging outside Zonko's joke shop!"

"I wonder if they sell hot chocolate here?"

"Quidditch tryouts are next week! You're kidding!"

They were having a great time. Other Hogwarts students filed in to stay warm and get some delicious butterbear. Soon the pub was full. It was hard to even reach the door.

Out of nowhere all the noise stopped. Gabrielle stopped in mid-laugh, her eyes widening.

Harry set his jaw and clenched his fist. "Malfoy!" he muttered.

Emily was confused. Did she know someone named Malfoy? It definitely sounded familiar.

There was a scream from one of the younger Gryffindor girls.

Malfoy shot her a nasty look and she choked in fear. He friends patted her on the back to get her breathing again.

Malfoy glared across the room. Finally, he smirked. "You all missed me so much that you're speechless? My goodness, I am touched."

Harry stood up. "Leave, Malfoy."

Malfoy turned and grinned maliciously. "So, you're still here, Potter. I thought the Dark Lord would have finished you off by now-"

"I SAID LEAVE!" Harry shouted! Hermione pulled desperately at his shirt, trying to get him to sit down, but at the same time her eyes were full of hatred for Malfoy.

Malfoy nodded towards him. "But I've just gotten here. I'm allowed to stay a while, am I not? I don't see any rules against it."

"I have a no death-eater policy," said Madam Rosmerta from behind the bar. She didn't move.

"No wonder she's scared of him. She was under Malfoy's imperius curse for an entire year last year," whispered Gabrielle, just to Emily.

Emily gulped. One of Voldemort's cronies was here. Why? For her, Harry, or the rest of the school? Or was he just going to be threatening and rude?

She looked up at Jon to see if he understood what was going on. His eyes full of understanding, he nodded at her. She looked away. Hermione must've told him everything.

"Good for you, madam," he said mockingly. "As I remember you weren't so quirky last year." He turned to Harry, "A warning for you, Potter. Stay out of the Dark Lord's way and maybe he'll stay out of yours. For now at least."

Harry took a deep breath. The two sixteen year old rivals were radiating hatred for each other. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that this was not going to end easily.

Harry slowly lifted his wand. "Out…now…!" He pointed towards the door with his other hand.

Draco smirked. "I've given my warning, Potter. Stay away and maybe the Dark Lord will let you live." With a sweep of his cloak, Malfoy left the bar and disapperated.

The noise hesitantly grew until it reached its normal volume.

"I swear he gets more and more like his father everyday. It's repulsive!" Hermione exclaimed.

"He's awful!" cried Genny. "I'm ashamed to be…in the same school as him." Genny turned red. That hadn't been what she was going to say. "Oh, god! I said I'd meet Seamus five minutes ago. I better go, guys." Genny said, grabbing her cloak.

Emily stopped her. "Seamus?" she asked.

She blushed. "I don't think he meant it." She fled, with Emily's disgusted tone when Seamus was mentioned still on her mind.

"I can't believe she's going out with him," Emily declared. Harry didn't seem to be listening. He was looking elsewhere, his eyes blank.

Ron shook his head at her. Harry wasn't going to get his mind off Malfoy's warning that easily.

"Hey, let's go ice skating!" Emily said. Everyone agreed and they set off the rent skates from a nearby shack. Once everyone had skates on, they began gliding across the ice. Emily had to concentrate on sliding one foot in front of the other. She had never been a very good skater.

Not paying attention to what was in front of her instead of at her feet, Emily crashed into somebody.

She fell down laughing. What a klutz she was! She looked up at the person she had crashed into to see he was laughing too. He offered her a hand up. Emily glanced at his cloak. He was a Gryffindor, and he couldn't be much older than Emily.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she dusted snow of her pants.

He shrugged, "It's fine. My name's Ryan. Yours?"

"I'm Emily," Emily blushed, shyly.

"Would you like to skate with me?" asked Ryan, holding out his hand. "We can't crash into each other if we hold hands."

Emily ignored the giggles of Luciana, and Gabrielle behind her. "I'd love to," she said. And she had the most fun she's ever had since she came to Hogwarts


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The following week was well spent. Since it was getting near to Christmas, the teachers were lightening the homework load. Emily had time to chat with Genny, Luciana, and Gabrielle. She had time to discuss where her mom might have been with Jon. She had time to sit in her room and think about Ryan…his messy, light brown hair, his deep brown eyes that were filled with laughter…he was meant for Emily, and Emily wasn't going to let him go easily.

Whenever she saw him in the hallways, she would smile sweetly and wave. If she ever had the chance to say "hi" to him, she would flutter her eyelashes and giggle. Luciana called her "flirty" once but shut up when Emily retorted that Luciana flirted with boys all the time.

Emily had been sitting at her desk in the common room, when Genny burst in.

"You will never believe what I just saw!" She looked like she was about to cry as she threw herself onto the couch. "You were right Emily, there's something wrong with Seamus. I just found him in an unused classroom, presumably alone. But when I went to say hi to him," she gulped, "Oh, my God, Emily, I didn't know who to tell. So I'm telling you. This is gonna sound so messed up, but I think Seamus was talking with Lucius Malfoy through the fireplace. Oh, my God, Emily, what should we do?"

Emily thought about it. It made sense. If Seamus was under the influence of the Imperius curse, the Death-Eaters would have to have some way of keeping in touch with him. "What did he say about my mother?"

Genny gawked. "He could be giving You-Know-Who directions and all you care about is if he mentioned your mother!"

"What did he say?" roared Emily.

"He didn't say anything about her, but he did mention you and your trip the other day. I don't have any clue about how he knew about that…unless he was following me-"

"Does he have a motive for following you?" asked Emily calmly, trying to think things through. Who should she tell first- McGonagall or Professor Lupin?

Genny blushed. "I, I, he….no."

Emily knew she was hiding something, but she didn't push it. "We have to tell McGonagall. Come on."

She lead Genny to the stone gargoyles guarding the office and banged on the wall.

"She can't hear that, y'know," one of the gargoyles cackled at her. She ignored it and looked around for a teacher. She saw Professor Lupin coming up the stairs.

'Perfect,' she thought, and convinced him to get her and Genny into the headmistress's office.

"Headmistress, Genny and I have something to tell you. You heard my theory about Seamus being under Imperius, right? Well, here's more proof. Tell her, Genny."

Genny retold her story without all the "oh, my god"s. She added a few things she hadn't told Emily before.

"When Seamus mentioned Emily's trip to her old house, he said that she's found the letter, not her mom. It's like he knew or something." And "I think he's been following me, trying to figure out if he can convince me of- well, you know."

Why didn't you come to the office as soon as you realized he was acting differently?" asked McGonagall sternly.

"I don't know!" she Genny hopelessly. "I figured it was just hormones or something!"

After the discussion and further mention of the trip to Emily's house, which McGonagall had only heard a brief description of from Lupin, McGonagall laid back in her seat, looking tired. "So, if he's under Imperius, there's not much I can do but try to free him. As soon as I do, Malfoy will know that we know."

"What else can we do? We can't leave the spell on the poor boy," interrupted Lupin. "Think what a year this would be for him then. We have to take it off."

Emily nodded. "That's probably best."

On the way back to the dormitory to change before dinner, Emily asked Genny, "What was Seamus trying to convince you of?"

Genny seemed confused for a second, then, "Oh."

"Seamus said…"

"Yeah, Emily, I have to tell you something. Do you promise you won't hate me afterwards?"

They stopped walking. "Genny, of course I won't hate you. You can tell me anything."

"Okay. In here, then." Genny pulled Emily into an empty classroom. "Emily, you never even wondered about my parents or anything, even when you were having such huge problems with yours. Well, I wasn't lucky like you. My parents are Death- Eaters. They deserted me when I was young though to live with other relatives. You know, Ron Weasley," Genny asked. When Emily nodded she continued, "He's one of my cousins, but since he has so many siblings I hardly ever stay with his family. I'm a Weasley, and therefore a pureblood. My parents suddenly decided last year that I'm the perfect tool for them to use to get to Harry Potter. They wanted me to join the Death-Eaters." She paused dramatically.

Emily would have gasped if she hadn't been holding her breath for the big secret. Instead, she starting coughing and told Genny, "I can't believe that! Poor you, Genny, having to live with so many people. I can't believe your parents would do that to you. Anyway, I'm glad that you refused to become a Death-Eater," finished Emily.

"You mean, you don't hate me," Genny asked, surprised.

"Of course not. I said I wouldn't and it's not like you actually became a Death-Eater."

Genny sighed. "Oh, good. Just don't tell anyone, okay. If this gets out then my reputation is doomed. Oh, hi Ryan!"

Emily spun around. They had just entered the corridor and Ryan was just walking up to them. "Oh, hi, Ryan. How're you doing?" Emily asked him, beaming.

Ryan grinned. "I'm good, how 'bout you?"

Emily shrugged. "Same old, same old."

Ryan grinned. "Yeah, can't argue with that. Anyhow, there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up next weekend. It's such a short time after the last trip, but it probably has something to do with Filch's complaint that he needs to clean the whole school without students underfoot. So, how about it. Do you want to go?"

"With you?" asked Emily amazed.

Ryan grinned even more. "Well, I'm not asking you to go with my cousin's owl."

Emily chuckled, "I'd love to go! I'll see you then!"

"Great!" Ryan made a turn towards the library while Emily and Genny continued upward.

"I thought you were going to go to Zonko's with Jon next time we went on a Hogsmeade trip. You two had agreed…"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. I guess I'll just have to tell him we'll do it next time," shrugged Emily.

They were almost to the dormitory when Genny burst. "What's up with you, Emily? Everybody thinks you and Jon are an item, and then you start going out with Ryan. Doesn't Jon even care? I thought he would be so disappointed to know you were going out with another guy. He sounds kinda lost whenever you mention Ryan. And you don't even notice it! Emily, he's made for you and you keep ignoring him!"

Emily turned her head, "Jon is not my boyfriend. We are friends. That's it. That's all we ever will be."

"If you continue on at this rate, that's all you'll ever be!" muttered Genny.

Emily didn't comment as they had already reached the Hufflepuff common room. She joined Luciana and Gabrielle in a conversation about Herbology, but in the corner of her eye watched as Genny sat noiselessly by the fire, levitating a cup and putting it back down on the table until she had the spell perfect.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Authors Note: The beginning of this chapter Emily wrote because I was really busy and she wanted to write the big date scene. The rest was me. Enjoy!

Emily woke up on the morning of the Hogsmeade trip with much excitement beating in her stomach. Finally, her date with Ryan had come.

That morning in the Great Hall after breakfast, his luscious brown eyes met her hazel ones.

"Shall we go?" Ryan said, his voice enchanting Emily.

"Of course," Emily replied in the sweetest voice she could muster.

The two linked arms and walked to Hogsmeade, enjoying the bliss of the outside and each others company.

"Where would you like to go?" Ryan asked Emily.

"Well, I have a place in mind."

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

And so Emily blindfolded Ryan with her hands and led him down the path to the cave where Sirius once stayed in. But, instead of making a right, she made a left, where they ended up on the bridge of Hogsmeade.

"I have a picnic planned."

"That's great, Emily."

And so the pair sat down on a blanket that had already been lied down. Emily reached out for the food hamper that resided on a corner of the blanket.

And so the two sat, basked in the sun and enjoying the food and ambiance while making small talk about each other. When all the food was gone, they decided to head up to the main block again before stopping at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.

"Emily?" questioned Ryan once they had sat down with their drinks.

"Yes?"

"Do you really like me or is it Jon that you fancy?"

The infamous question had arisen from the depths of their chat. Emily felt her stomach leap forward a step.

"Ryan, Jon is just my friend. I've never had strong feelings for him, unlike the one's I have for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have never been more positive."

"Good, I wasn't sure. From what Luciana said…"

"Luciana?" snorted Emily. "You actually believed her?"

Ryan shrugged with a smile. "Oh, well, sometimes it's hard to know what to believe."

Emily shrugged and sipped some butterbeer.

"Like another rumour I heard," began Ryan, leaning in towards her. "Luciana said that Professor Lupin was your dad. Is that at least true?"

Emily nodded, but tried to change the topic. "Yeah, well, I didn't know until recently. So what's your family like?" It felt too awkward talking about one of their teachers

Ryan smiled, proudly. "My older brother, Oliver, is on the Puddlemore United Quidditch Team."

"Really? That's awesome? Do you play quidditch?" asked Emily.

Ryan shrugged. "Not as well as my brother, but I am on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Oy, Matt, come here!" Ryan called over one of his friends and introduced him to Emily. Emily saw Luciana and Gabrielle giggling over Matt from the other side of the Three Broomsticks.

"Hey, it's almost time to go. See you guys back at Hogwarts," waved Matt, picking up his empty butterbeer.

"'kay, bye."

"So, what did you mean when you said you didn't know Lupin was your father until recently," asked Ryan innocently.

Emily winced. "I…don't really feel comfortable talking about it."

"C'mon. You can tell me," said Ryan, punching her playfully.

Emily giggled. "Okay, fine. I was raised by my mom in a muggle village. She left for a bit and this creepy rat man who was working for You-Know-Who came and threatened me. So I followed Jon, who I had met at my muggle school, to Hogwarts. When I was here I met Professor Lupin. It's been weird. Just the other day we, along with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Jon, went to try to find my Mom. Our house had been destroyed completely. It didn't even exist anymore! And there was a note from You-Know-Who threatening my mom. Apparently he's after information that Professor Lupin has, and he thinks my mom has too. It's crazy!" Emily sad, fidgeting with her fingers instead of looking at Ryan.

"Must be pretty awful," Ryan said, his voice lifting Emily's spirit. "So why do you call your dad Professor Lupin? And your mom, mum? Are you from America or something? They're really weird there."

Emily shook her head, a smile growing on her face. "Well, it's so awkward to cal him 'dad.' I barely know him. It's just…weird. And my mom was born Canada for the first year or two of her life. Her parents said "mom" so she said "mom". I guess I just picked it up from her."

Ryan grinned at her. "So, what should we do now? We had our picnic, we drank some butterbeer…"

Emily blushed, "I don't know."

Ryan leaned closer. "You know, tomorrow Valentine's Day."

Emily and him were so close that she could count the freckles on his face. "I almost forgot," she said softly.

They drew closer together. "It's such a…romantic day." Ryan's slow, mesmerizing voice flew to Emily's ears. She could hear, see, and smell, nothing but him.

"Yes…it is…" They were so close now. Their lips were getting so close together…

"Emily!"

Emily sat up and looked around to see a devastated Jon looking at her and Ryan. Jon looked like he was about to scream.

"Jon, what is it?"

Jon looked one last time and ran from the pub.

Ryan was rummaging in his pocket and dropped a few galleons on the table.

Emily felt faint. They were so close….so near to each other. They were about to kiss for God's sake!

"We should head back, Emily. Are you ready?" asked Ryan, smoothly.

Emily shook her head. "No, you go on. I'm going to find Jon."

Ryan shrugged. "Okay, see you at dinner then." He pecked her on the cheek quickly and left, the bell ringing behind him.

Suddenly Emily was aware of the noise in the pub. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. She rushed out of the pub. She had better find Jon and explain. What was wrong anyway? It wasn't like he and Emily were together? 'Unless,' it hit Emily, 'he really did like me that way and I just never knew.'

She shook her head and searched the village for Jon. He wasn't there or on the path back to Hogwarts either. "I'm sure he's in the Gryffindor Tower," she figured. "At least, I hope he is."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Confused and befuddled over Jon's disappearance, Emily made her way towards the school. She was thinking about what had happened. Ryan had been so nice to her. They were kissing because they liked each other. How could Emily have known that Jon liked her also? What could she have done about it anyway? Emily felt really guilty, but she knew that it was too late.

"Damnit, Jon, you could've told me," she muttered to herself. But then she realized something: what would she have done if Jon had told her? Freaked out and slapped him? No, it was probably for the better that Jon hadn't told her before.

Emily felt like the world was falling in around her. She knew she would have boy troubles at some point in her life- every girl did- but she never knew it would feel this extreme.

Miserable, and upset, Emily almost neglected to see the strange, green mark that was overshadowing the school. But of course…that was an almost.

Emily screamed when she finally saw the Dark Mark hovering in the sky. She may have been raised away from the wizarding world, but that was something she knew of! Despite her mother's warnings never to enter a building with the Dark Mark above it, Emily ran towards the school, thinking only of Jon and how she'd never get to apologize, Ryan and how she'd never be able to see him again, and her friends.

The faces of her classmates and teachers flew through her mind as she raced down the deserted halls. "Genny! Jon! Ryan! Anybody!" she cried, poking her head into the classrooms only to be disappointed. Where was everyone?

Emily almost missed the library, she was running so fast, but she glimpsed some movement in there and backtracked to check it out.

She ran in, shouting for a reply. Something long and skinny was suddenly held up against the back of her neck. She froze. It was a wand.

"You'll pay for telling everyone about the curse," hissed a voice behind her.

Her heart sunk. Seamus. He was already under the Imperius curse again. Either that or he really was evil. "Hand over your wand," he whispered, "Or I'll kill you."

Emily reached in her pocket for her wand, slowly. Seamus tensed behind her, ready for sudden movement from her. She slowly turned and placed her hand over his as if to drop her wand into his hand. She began to loosen her fingers…

"Bibliopandeus!" she shouted suddenly, grabbing her wand just before she dropped it. Books flew from the library shelves and began to attack Seamus. He covered his head as the charms book whacked his head, and kneeled in pain when a particularly heavy Herbology book rampaged into his stomach.

Emily smirked and tucked her wand inside of her cloak again. Turning to leave, she saw Lupin, Genny, and McGonagall watching with shock from the doorway.

Emily shrugged. "I had to do something to keep him from cursing me."

McGonagall's Office a Few Minutes Later

"My goodness, this is just ridiculous beyond belief," huffed Professor McGonagall. Emily and Seamus hung their heads in shame. Seamus had been anti-cursed just minutes before and kept apologizing to Emily for what had happened.

"I was walking by the lake and I just…I can't remember anything after that," he had explained. Emily had forgiven him, but still felt a bit guarded around him without meaning to. After all the times he had tried to hurt her, it was hard for her to forgive. The real Seamus seemed like a completely different person from the old Seamus. This one was much less stealthy-acting and would never have flirted as outrageous and obnoxiously as he had when Emily had first met him. Most importantly, this Seamus would never try to kill anyone. He was a good person really. Emily could see why Genny had used to like him, although why she never had realized his big change was a mystery. Maybe she didn't want to believe that he was different, so she had turned a blank eye to it.

"Headmistress, may I interrupt," asked Lupin. "After all, Emily is my daughter. I have the right to question her alone, don't I?"

McGonagall nodded. "That you do. You two may go, but I want Seamus to stay. It is necessary to find out who's been cursing him and how to protect him for further curses. I am astounded that a Death-Eater managed to find a way to curse a Hogwarts student within Hogwarts grounds. It was in the beginning of the school year so perhaps it was before Filch had the chance to block all the secret passage ways into the school."

"Umm, Professor," said Harry, guiltily, stepping into the room with Hermione sternly at his back. "There's another secret passage way underneath the Whomping Willow that Filch doesn't know about."

"Oh, really?" asked McGonagall, looking down her glasses at Harry.

Lupin chuckled as he led Emily into the hallway. "I had forgotten that Harry knew about that passageway, but it won't do any good. I already told Filch about it and he blocked it off."

"You mean, there's another way that Death-Eaters have managed to get into Hogwarts?"

Lupin, the bags under his eyes looking deeper than ever, nodded.

They reached Lupin's office without talking very much. When Emily walked in, the first person she saw was a lady about 20 years old with bubble-gum pink hair. Emily's first impression of her was a punk flamingo.

"Emily, this is Nymphadora Tonks," introduced Lupin.

Emily gaped. This was her dad's girlfriend? She was barely older than Emily, and was much too young for Lupin.

"Hi, Emily. Just call me Tonks. I hate being called Nymphadora. It sounds like a cheesy name for a clown," said Tonks with a big foolish grin, holding out her hand. She shook Emily's hand with a firm sureness. Emily liked this lady, even though she had replaced her mother in her dad's life. "So, Remus has told me all about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

Emily nodded, not sure what to say to this. Lupin hadn't said that much about Tonks, so it was an odd situation.

"I came as soon as I could when the Order of the Phoenix heard that the dark mark was over Hogwarts again," Tonks said to Lupin. "Flitwick met us at the door to tell us everything was all under control. We checked out the school just in case he was under the Imperius curse of course. We had heard that there was a problem with that at Hogwarts earlier this year."

"Who made the dark mark?" asked Emily, suddenly curious.

"Probably Seamus. He was trying to get you back to Hogwarts from the sound of it. We used a bit of veritaserum on him right after we took the curse off. You were talking to McGonagall then, Emily," Lupin explained. "Apparently Voldemort was furious when he heard that you were at Hogwarts, and your mother gone. He's after both of you, as well as anybody else close to the Potters or Dumbledore. We live in dangerous times."

Everybody in the room looked sadly away at that. Emily had grown up not knowing her father due to You-Know-Who. Tonks had seen people killed by Death-Eaters right in front of her.

"Tonks, is it okay if I speak to Emily alone for a minute. You can wait in the classroom and we'll be out in a minute."

Tonks nodded and left.

"You wanted to question me about the Seamus-thing?" asked Emily.

Lupin shook his head and sat next to her. "It's more important," he said somberly. "I heard you almost kissed a boy today. Are you sure he's good? I won't have you dating someone who will be bad for you."

Emily almost laughed. She had been expecting something far more serious. "He's nice. It's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

Lupin nodded. "I just wanted to be sure. You mother would murder me if I let you go out with a bad person." Emily saw his eyes begin to tear, and patted him on the back.

"I miss her too. I really want to know where she is and what she's doing right know. She must be worried sick about me. I know I'm worried about her," sighed Emily.

"Where did she say she was going again?" asked Lupin out of the blue.

"Well, she got a letter and said she had to visit some friends."

"Did she say which friends?"

Emily shook her head, thinking back. "No, she just said, 'I have to see one of my old friends about something. I'll be back soon enough.' But then she didn't come back or she would have gotten the letter first. Or at least she would have come to Hogwarts looking for help. I wonder if she even knows I left home," Emily said, sadly.

Lupin gave her a pat. "I'm sure she's fine."

It was at that point that Emily realized something: the main thing that was keeping Emily and Lupin caring for each other was worry for Leila.

'Please, find us soon, Mom! We need you,' prayed Emily desperately.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"The Order wants to send out a search party for Leila, Remus. They want you to go with them," said Tonks, unhappily. Emily and Lupin had returned to the classroom and Tonks had begun filling them in on Order business. "They're putting a group together. I'm in it, and so are you. There's also Kingsley, and a few others. Just make sure that Harry doesn't find out. We're trying to track down Voldemort's headquarters and with his aptitude for finding trouble he'd probably insist on coming, or sneak along with us. Will McGonagall give you the clearance to leave for a while?"

"Leave?" asked Emily. "You can't leave without me! She's my mother! I'd know her better than anyone."

"We can put you in danger," said Lupin, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You have to stay here at Hogwarts. If you get caught he could try to use you to lure me and the information I have." He shivered. "And I would come like a sheep to the field."

"You have to understand, Emily, it's not you, it's that the Order needs to travel as quickly and lightly as possible. You understand, right?" Tonks asked.

Emily crossed her arms. "Sure, I understand. You're leaving me here because you think I'll be too much trouble," she sneered at Tonks. She turned to Lupin, "And you just want me to stay at the school. Well, guess what. I'm leaving Hogwarts as soon as I can go home! It'll me just me and Mom again and it'll be great! We won't need you!" She was beginning to shout now.

"Clam down! It's not safe for you to go home, and we won't be sure it is until we manage to find your mother," pleaded Lupin.

"Fine," said Emily. "Fine, I won't go home, but I won't be happy."

She marched out of the room, only to hear Lupin and Tonks begin to discuss plans for their trip behind her.

"Don't tell Harry," she muttered. "Sure I won't tell Harry…just as likely as me actually stay at Hogwarts while they look for Mom!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"Hermione, where's Harry?" asked Emily, barging into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Emily!" shrieked Hermione, surprised. "How did you get in here? You're a Hufflepuff!"

Emily rolled her eyes. "I cursed the fat lady's portrait until she let me in. I've heard Jon say the password, Duh! Now, tell me where Harry is!"

Hermione pointed at a set of stairs that led to the boys' dormitories. Emily stomped up them, Hermione following behind her.

"This is his dormitory," said Hermione, leading her to a door marked, "Seventh Years."

Emily threw open the door, and heard Neville yelp as he ducked behind his four-poster. "Can't a boy change in peace, anymore?" he asked, frustrated.

"Sorry, Neville," said Emily automatically. Even Neville could tell she didn't really care. She was looking for Harry, and only Harry.

"Emily, what's up?" asked Harry, sitting on his bed with a book open in his lap.

"The Order of the Phoenix is going to try to rescue my mom. They might find themselves at You-Know-Who's headquarters while they're away. They're trying to keep it from you so that you won't chase after them and get yourself killed."

"So why are you telling me this?" asked Harry with a bemused expression on his face.

Emily clenched her hands, and tried to think of a retort, but none came. "Because..because…they won't let me go either," she finished lamely.

Hermione rolled her eyes and Emily shot her a look. "Fine, so you don't care where Voldemort is. You don't want revenge. You're gonna let the Order destroy Voldemort while you lie in bed at Hogwarts, safe and oblivious. Fine, I'll go get Jon to help me." She turned to leave, her rage bottled up inside of her.

A hand rested on her shoulder. "I never said I wouldn't come. I know you really want to find your mum. She could be in serious danger though. You'll need all the help you can get. Also, I'm a little annoyed that the Order considers me a child still. I'm of age for God's sake and they still treat me like a child."

"I'll come too," Hermione assured me. "And Ron and Jon will, I bet. Maybe even Genny and some more of your friends. What's your plan?"

Emily hesitated. "Well, I'm not positive, but here's what I think…"

Two hours later Emily and her friends- except Jon- were waiting in the Great Hall. They knew Lupin was going to leave soon and they planned to follow him if they could. It wasn't a very good plan; Lupin could also leave by floo powder, a portkey, or by means of another exit, but Emily had thought of it on short notice.

Hermione shrunk anything they had though to bring with them, like broomsticks and a potion or two, so that they could fit inside their owners pockets. As they waited, Ryan happened to pass by the group.

"Whatcha doing, Emily?" he asked smoothly.

Emily felt shivers up and down her spine. He was just so hot.

"We're going somewhere to rescue my mom. We think she may be in trouble," she said, simply.

Ryan shrugged, "Good luck, then." He began to walk away.

A thought crossed Emily's mind. "Hey, Ryan, do you want to come with us?"

He shrugged. "I got a lot of school work to do. I'll catch you later, okay." He raised a hand as goodbye.

Emily sighed, "See you later, Ryan- if we manage to make it back."

Genny walked up beside Emily, "You like him a lot?" she asked, tonelessly.

Emily nodded.

"You know, Jon really likes you. I think he was a little jealous when he saw you two about to kiss. He told me he liked you as soon as he met you at that muggle school."

"Really?" asked Emily, surprised. "Well, that would explain why he kept sitting with me at lunch. Nobody liked me at my muggle school. Then he came and became my friend. Now at Hogwarts I have loads of friends- I don't even know what to think! He was my first friend, but I never though of us as boyfriend/girlfriend. Everyone thought we were when we first came here and I just kept denying it. I figured Jon agreed with me. I never knew he liked me."

Genny patted her on the shoulder, "I'm sure he'll understand eventually."

"Emily?" asked Ron. "It's been a while. Do you think we should give up?"

"No!" she said, assertively. "We're not leaving this school until we have a plan to follow the Order. Unless any of you want to back out?"

Genny, Harry, Hermione, and Ron shook their heads. Luciana and Gabrielle hadn't wanted to come from the beginning. They thought it was too dangerous. Emily hadn't asked anyone else to come along.

"I think I know where they might be," said Harry slowly.

"Where?" asked Emily and Genny simultaneously.

"Number Twelve Grimwauld Place."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"THIS is it?" asked Genny. They were all staring at a worn down muggle neighborhood. In front of them were two large houses, number eleven and number thirteen grimwauld place.

"Are we at the right place?" asked Emily. "I don't see a number twelve anywhere!"

Hermione shook her head and smiled. We're at the right place. You two just can't see it yet. You need a notice from the secret keeper or something. Ron and I will go in and tell them we're all here. They'll HAVE to let us in. They can't just leave us out here."

Genny looked down miserably. "They won't let me in."

Hermione looked concerned. "Why? The Weasley's are in there, and your related to them! They have to let you in."

Genny shook her head, "It's not that simple."

Emily saw a muggle car swing around the corner. She was about to warn them to act like muggles, when the car stopped next to them and the door swung open. Before anyone had a chance to react, somebody grabbed Emily and Genny and pulled them into the car. Emily tried to scream, but found herself no longer in control of her body. Somebody had spread something slimy on her forehead. There was a screaming roar in her ears, and she saw Genny squeezing her eyes tight next to her, and felt the car zooming away before she passed out. The last thing she heard was Hermione screaming, "Harry, we have to save them!"

Emily groaned as the world spun back into focused. Everything was blurry. Suddenly she remembered what had happened. As if it had hit her in the face, she slumped backwards and found herself against a cold, hard wall. "Genny?" she whispered, hoping desperately for a reply.

Somebody groaned next to her. Emily's vison was slowly getting back to normal, and she saw Genny's vivid red hair spread out on the floor next to her. Genny was lying on the ground, slowly waking up.

Emily rubbed her eyes and finally realized where they were. Surrounding the two girls were rock walls. On one wall were bars, tightly fitted together so that Emily's hand couldn't even reach through them. The whole place gave off an alien feel. Emily shivered. It was also freezing! Why hadn't she brought a heavy cloak?

She shook Genny. "Genny, wake up. We're in serious trouble!"

Genny waved her hand at Emily, as if waving away a bad dream. "Go back to sleep, Emily," she groaned. "We have transfiguration later."

"We won't if you don't get up," said Emily crossly.

"All the more reason to stay in bed."

Emily snarled at her. She found a dirty pitcher of water and threw its contents at Genny.

"Hey!" she shouted, waking up immediately. Her eyes widened as she saw where they were. "This cannot be happening. No!" She whispered, her voice growing a bit louder until she finally screamed her last word. She hugged her knees and tucked in her head as if that would make it all go away.

"Genny, we don't know where we are. We have to stay calm. Don't lose your head just yet," Emily ordered her.

Genny just shook more. "Lose our heads. Yeah, exactly. Lose our lives along with our heads. This is awful!" She looked up at Emily. "I know where we are. I've been here before."

Emily felt relief wash over her. Genny would never have been anywhere too dangerous. "Great. Where?"

"Lucius Malfoy's dungeons. Voldemort gave the orders for us to be brought here. He's always the one to order prisoners captured."

Emily froze. 'Oh, so not so good,' she thought. "Why were you here before?" she asked, then interrupted herself. "More importantly, why did they take us?"

"They took you to blackmail your dad," Genny answered solemnly. "And me to try to recruit or kill. They should know better by now! I'm not going to join them!" She began to cry again.

"Genny, why would they think you would join them?" asked Emily confused. It made sense for them to kidnap Emily as blackmail for Lupin; he was very important in the Order. But why Genny?

"My parents," she sobbed. "My stupid, evil, good-for-nothing parents. I hate them! Why are they doing this to me?"

Emily took a deep breath. In dangerous situations people always thought of themselves and their troubles first, but Genny was the one in need of help- not Emily. Emily hugged her. "I'm sorry, Genny. I don't understand. Please explain."

Genny wiped her eyes. "You know how I told you my parents are Death-Eaters and I've been moving around, living with all my relatives?"

Emily scarcely remembered. "Yes," she replied anyway. "You said you had refused to become a Death-Eater."

"There's more," moaned Genny. "I lived with my parents for a little bit at one point when they wanted me back and I liked Draco Malfoy. You know" she winced, "_really_ liked Malfoy. Strictly speaking we're far enough related that I could do that…"

Flashback

Genny peered down both hallways and then scurried out of her hiding space. She ran to the door and pulled on the doorknob as hard as she could as if a rampage of lions was after her.

"C'mon! Open you damn door!" she begged. There was no point in begging a door. After all, it wasn't about to pity her and open. Doors just don't work like that these days.

Genny gave up and ran from the door. 'I need another way to get out of here!' she though desperately.

"Going somewhere?" asked an amused voice from right next to her and she passed a place where two corridors met.

Genny yelped and tried to keep running, but the man had grabbed her arm.

"The Dark Lord will not be pleased that you try to run away," he said tonelessly.

Genny struggled helplessly to pull out of his grasp. It was no use. She looked up at the merciless blond man who had recaptured her. His eyes were cold and steely. 'Lucius Malfoy,' she thought with disgust. Why had her parents brought her to this awful manor? It was a dungeon without bars.

"Tell your damn lord that I don't give a damn! I don't care that my damn parents made me come here with you damn freaks! You and your damn Death-Eater friends can just bow down to the Dark Lord like the slaves that you are," she spat at him.

He threw her to the ground and leered over her making her cringe away from him. "You will not insult the Dark Lord," he hissed at her. "You will be a Death-Eater and you will like it!"

"I won't!" Genny shouted at him. Her ten year old mind somehow had the hope of escaping still.

Malfoy dragged her into a large ballroom, with the banners of Slytherin House and Voldemort hanging on the walls. "I have her, my lord," he said, bowing to a tall figure.

Genny refused to look at Voldemort. Eye contact was essential for legilimency, she had learned once. That time she had been foolish and clueless. Now she knew better.

"Stop struggling," commanded Genny's dad, slapping her face. Tears formed in Genny's eyes but she defiantly tried to hold them in.

"Do it quickly, my lord," said Genny's mother with no expression- no sign of caring for her only child at all.

"Atra Stigma," Voldemort hissed pointing his wand at Genny's left forearm.

She screamed in pain as searing heat blasted her arm, branding her with the Dark Mark for the rest of your life.

In her pain, tears and all, she heard the Death-Eaters around her laughing and Voldemort, with joy in his voice, saying, "And now you are my slave, forever bound to me and my evil."

Faces swung around her laughing horribly. He parents, Malfoy, Voldemort…everyone else there it seemed,"

End of Flashback

Genny was crying endlessly now. "It was awful. Now I'm his slave. He could command me if he wanted and I'd have to obey."

"Genny, it's fine. I doubt he really has that much power over you. It's just a mark on your arm. It's nothing!" comforted Emily.

Genny shook her head, "No. It's magic. It's evil. He has control of me."

"What did that have to do with you liking Draco Malfoy?" asked Emily carefully. She didn't want to upset Genny, but she was very curious.

Flashback

"Are you okay?" asked Draco Malfoy, helping Genny to her feet.

She wiped her face. The tears that had flooded down her face only minuted ago were slowing. She had run out of the room once she had regained control of her body. "Yes. Yes, I am, thank you." She pulled her hand away. She didn't need this son-of-a….well, not a very nice person.

"I remember when he did it to me. It hurt like hell," offered the younger Malfoy. "Ice helps a little bit. If you want, I'll get a house elf to bring some."

Genny nodded, thankfully, "That would be nice."

End of Flashback

"He was nice to me for some reason," she explained.

"But he threatened Harry that day in the Three Broomsticks," Emily pointed out.

Genny nodded. "I don't think he and Harry ever really got along. He's not really that evil though."

"Genny! He killed Hogwart's old Headmaster! He's evil," Emily shouted.

"He probably had to. Besides, he didn't. He couldn't do it. Snape did it for him. I'd know. I was there. You were still at the school with the muggles."

Emily stuck out her tongue. "Too bad I was with the stupid, clueless muggles instead of fancying an evil git!"

"I'll have to remember to tell my son that," said a male voice interrupting the two girls. It came from outside of the bars. "I'm sure that Draco would feel quite embarrassed if he knew he was liked by a traitor. I'll have to punish him for that. Although I suppose he didn't know that you were going to betray us when he helped you up. I'm sure he thought you were one of us at the time." The voice paused. "The Dark Lord would like to see you, Weasley."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Malfoy marched Genny away, leaving Emily to mourn her friend in silence. Would Genny give in to Voldemort? Would they come for Emily too or leave her down here as bait? Would Emily ever see any of her friends again?

'How can she like Draco Malfoy? He's evil!' thought Emily frustrated. 'She's still somehow convinced he's good. What's wrong with her?'

'You have no evidence that she's not right,' said a nagging voice in the back of her mind. Emily banished the voice and stared reproachfully at the bars of her cage. If only there was a way out.

Emily sat down and began to think…

It had been almost an hour and Emily still hadn't thought of any way to escape. She had considered tackling Lucius Malfoy when he came back with Genny- if he came back with Genny- but had decided that he would just overpower her and throw her back into the prison.

Footsteps bounded off the cold, rock walls as somebody came down the hallway. Emily scampered into the far corner of the cage which was in shadows.

A dirty man with a twitching nose, hunched over like a rat, and very jumpy scurried to Emily's cage and peered in at her as if she were an animal in a zoo. His eyes grew.

"Dumb rat man," muttered Emily, her eyes narrowing.

"Nice to meet you again, Miss Lupin. The Dark Lord wanted to see you and sent me," he explained hurriedly in the squeaky voice of his.

"How can he trust you now? You failed last time you saw me, didn't you? Isn't your 'lord' angry at you?" Emily taunted.

"He was," started the rat man with a squeak of fear.

His nose twitched as if he had no control over it. 'It's a very distracting nose' thought Emily amused.

"But he forgave me eventually. I couldn't bring Remus's wife to him if she wasn't there." He looked a little guilty. "I'm almost glad of that. She was very pretty when she was in Hogwarts with your dad and I."

Emily was disgusted. Was her kidnapper hitting on her mom? "If you were in school with my parents they must have hated you."

The man twitched, "No. I was your dad's friend back then. He trusted me with even his deepest secret. Along with Sirius Black and James Potter. Of course, once Sirius and Remus realized I had betrayed James they tried to kill me. Harry Potter stopped them, thankfully," he sighed, his eyes wide as if even the memory still scared him.

"You're lying!" Emily shouted, throwing herself at the bars of the cage. "You wouldn't be his friend! You're evil! You're a Death-Eater! And Harry would never have saved someone as worthless and trashy as you!"

He shook quickly. 'He's a twitching maniac,' thought Emily angrily.

"Stop it!" he cried. "I am in charge here. Don't threaten me." This coming from his shaking, uncertain voice wasn't much of a threat.

"Oh yeah?" mocked Emily. "Whatcha gonna do, huh? Throw me in a dungeon and let me starve? It's the new fad diet you know. The get-locked-in-a-cage-and-starve-to-death diet! Works every time! It's sooooo much better than Atkins diet."

"Huh?" the rat man asked, shaking with confusion.

Emily rolled her eyes. How oblivious was this guy? "What, never heard of a diet? I guess I can understand that from the looks of you but-"

"Silence!" roared a voice. Somebody was approaching the dungeon. With a squeak, the rat man threw himself to the ground and began to grovel. Emily stood straighter, prepared to look whoever it was in the eye and tell them off. The person who came she was not prepared for.

"You-Know-You!" She stumbled as she saw his horrible face; those burning red eyes seemed to look into her very soul. There was not even a small sign of pity in his face. This was the face of a man who had murdered hundreds, leaving children parentless and ripping apart families…like Emily's family.

"So you know who I am," Voldemort smiled, mocking her.

"Y, y, yes. And I'm not afraid of you either," Emily bravely declared. He voice grew stronger after she managed to hold back her original stutter.

Voldemort smirked. "Leave, Wormtail." The rat man left with another twitch if his bulgy face. "So now it is just you and I; The most powerful wizard in the world and the daughter of a good for nothing but forcing information from _werewolf._"

Emily gawked. She didn't know what to say to THAT. "Professor Lupin's not a werewolf!" she finally managed to sputter indignantly.

Voldemort looked amused. "You don't even call him your father?"

"No, I don't, thanks to you, you stupid, evil-"

"That's enough," snapped Voldemort. "In case you haven't noticed, you are my prisoner. I will get information from you; you will sit in my dungeon and starve unless your father comes to save you. And when that happens…" Voldemort smiles, "Well, you'll see. Let's just say it'll be a good day indeed for the dark side with the information he has. I will finally be able to kill Harry Potter and my path to victory shall be cleared."

"Just leave Harry alone!" shouted Emily. "You've already ruined his life enough. You don't need to kill him just to take over the whole darn world. Leave him alone and Professor Lupin too! I won't believe your lies and I will never let you do anything to my friends and family!"

"Am I sensing…feelings…for Potter from you?" Voldemort asked, with a small, evil smile.

Emily coughed. "Of course not! Now let me out!"

Voldemort shook his head playfully. "No, I don't think I will. I'm having far too much fun to just let you leave. And I'll need you to be my bait." With a small wave, he turned his back on Emily and left her to worry alone.

She slumped into the corner of her prison and began to cry. "It's all lies!" she told herself. "He's not going to use me that that. The Order and my friends won't let him. And Professor Lupin's NOT a werewolf. He would tell me something like that," Emily sobbed to herself. She shuddered and cried for a while until she finally fell asleep in her cold, dark dungeon cage.

"Emily?" asked an uncertain voice. It sounded to be on the border of tears.

Emily's eyes slowly opened. If only she were safe in her bed at home!

"I'm awake," Emily replied slowly. She turned to Genny, only to see her panic-stricken and upset. Her eyes were red and wet. "Genny, are you okay?"

Genny began to slowly nod, then quickly shook her head and threw it into her hands. "It's awful. Awful. Emily, I wanna go back to Hogwarts. I wanna be normal. I want to see Gabrielle and Luciana again. I want to be anywhere but here!" she was sobbing uncontrollably now, barely knowing what she was saying.

Emily patted her on the back, comfortingly. "I want all those things also, but we can't right now. Right now all we can do is wait here until help arrives."

Genny looked up, her eyes wild, "No! That's even worse. Anyone who comes to help us will only be killed or tortured. It's no use. We'll be in this stupid dungeon for the rest of our lives."

"You may be," said Emily coldly. "But I have a feeling I'll be killed off as soon as he's done with me."

This wasn't the best thing to say as it only made Genny cry harder.

"It's all my fault," Genny sobbed. "All of it. If I hadn't run away after they gave me the dark mark. If only I had realized that Seamus wasn't being himself. If I had told McGonagall or someone…none of this would have happened."

"Yes it would," interrupted Emily without feeling. "You couldn't help being born to those awful people you call parents. I couldn't help being the daughter of someone who had information Voldemort could use. He would still be after Harry and he'd still be trying to rule the world. He was taking over for years before we were even born. None of this is really our faults. The only person we can blame is You-Know-Who. He's the one who formed the Death-Eaters. He's the one who's trying to take over. He's the one killing everyone," she shuddered and paused. Quietly, she added, "He's the one who took apart my family and kept what was rightfully mine from me. My whole life is his fault. It had nothing to do with you or me, Genny. He would be evil no matter what."

Genny began to calm down a little, although she was still crying slightly. "I suppose…suppose you're right, Emily." Genny's voice was wobbly as voices always are after a person cries. "But that doesn't help. We're still here and everything's still hopeless. It's all over now."

Emily hugged her. "It's not over until the Fat Lady sings, and since Madame Maxime is all the way in Beauxbatons, we won't be able to know if she's sung yet."

Genny chuckled. She took Emily's hand and was lifted to her feet. "So what's you plan?" she asked.

Emily's face fell. "Ummm…I was still working on that…"

"We're going to save them," Harry declared, ignoring Hermione's protests that there was nothing they should do.

They were inside of Grimwauld Place, and the Order was meeting downstairs. The group had told them about Genny and Emily's kidnapping and had been immediately banished to upstairs while they "let the grown-ups handle it." It was unbearable, especially for Harry who felt it was all his fault, but there was nothing they could do. Mrs. Weasley had been shocked to tears when the kids burst in and had told her what happened.

"Oh, poor dears," she had cried, worriedly. "And they're just Ginny's age. I'll call the Order into a meeting right now. Now let's get you all warm and fed." Then she had sent them upstairs with some snacks.

"Lupin's probably panicking also," Hermione pointed out. "Emily _is_ his daughter and he probably feels he needs to rescue her, but if he does then Voldemort," (she shuddered as she said the name), "will capture him and torture him for information. He's in a no-win situation."

Ron, on the other hand, didn't really know what to think. "We were standing there and we didn't even do anything!" he kept pointing out breathlessly.

"We're not just leaving them there," Harry decided. "We should get Gabrielle, Luciana, and Jon to come too." He thought for a second. "And maybe Seamus. He felt so bad for what he did, not that he could have helped it. He still doesn't know who put the curse on him in the first place."

"Harry," Hermione started, "we can't put all these students in danger. Especially not Jon. My aunt would kill me! The three of us and the Order can handle it…."

"The Order would never let us go," Ron shrugged. "It's us kids or no-one. Think, Hermione, it's Emily and Genny we're talking about. Not some strangers that we've never met!"

"Still," Hermione bit her lip, anxiously."

"We'll give them a choice," Harry said, scrambling for a quill and some parchment from one of the drawers. "If they want to help us, fine. If not…that's their problem." His scratching quill silenced Hermione for a while. Nothing else could be heard, not even the important meeting that the Order was holding downstairs.

Genny and Emily sat in their cage, thinking.

"We could blow this place up," suggested Genny.

"With what?" asked Emily bursting into laughter.

Genny shrugged with a smile. "Just a suggestion, but it made you laugh and that's good."

"Oh, yes, I'm very bubbly when I'm happy," Emily agreed.

"You're happy? About anything in particular?" asked Genny.

Emily thought for a minute and grinned big, "Nope, but there's hope for us and no use moaning so I might as well be happy, eh, mate?"

"Surely, good chap. Now where's that tea you promised, mate?"

The two girls collapsed in fits of giggles. It was good. The tension had been bugging at them for a while and now they needed to laugh it off.

"How about we offer some of that tea to our good friend You-Know-Who," laughed Emily.

"Yes, and we'll put a poison in it that will make him die and undo everything he did," suggested Genny with a laugh.

"And he'll taste it and say 'mmmm…this is good. Whatever do you call it?"

"And we'll reply," Genny snorted, "YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!"

"What a thing to be laughing at," said a happy, familiar voice from outside. Emily's heart soared. But it couldn't be…

"Harry!" shouted Genny as he came into view. "You're here! But where's everyone else?"

Harry motioned behind him and following him was Hermione, Ron, Gabrielle, Luciana, Jon, and Ryan.

Jon sidled up to the cage near Emily, "Sorry I yelled before," he whispered so no one else would here. "I was a little surprised."

Emily smiled, leaned through the bars, and kissed him on the cheek. "It's all good," she chuckled as Jon blushed.

"Ryan," Emily said suddenly, "I thought you had other stuff to do than come."

Ryan shrugged, acting as cool and smooth as always, "I heard from Luciana that you were You-Know-Who's prisoners. I couldn't have that, could I?"

It was Emily's turn to blush, but she turned away from Jon as she did so that he wouldn't see.

"I'll get you out," declared Hermione determinedly. She whipped out her wand and waved it. With a loud boom the bars on the cage began to melt on themselves, as if there was a scalding hot fire under them. Emily put her hand on one. It was cold.

"Nice piece of magic, that," said Ron impressed.

Hermione shrugged. "Voldemort probably puts charms on to keep people from messing with the locks and walls or blowing a way out, but I bet he never even considered the bars melting. It was a spell I found in a really old book in Hogwart's library, _Spells for Tough Spots and other-"_

Gabrielle cut her off, "Not now. We need to find a way to get out." The normally quiet Gabrielle was suddenly confidant and ready to take charge. She placed them in groups in case they had to suddenly split up, as if she had been planning rescue missions from Voldemort's dungeon her whole life. Luciana winked at Emily when Jon, Emily, and Ryan became a group. Emily rolled her eyes back and mouthed "How does she know to do this stuff?" as to not disrupt Gabrielle's stern lecture to Ron on why it made more sense for he and Hermione to be in different groups. "I'm trying to split it evenly by levels, now stop arguing or I'll curse your mouth shut."

Luciana mouthed back, "She reads way too much adventure stories."

Emily choked back laughter which earned her a disapproving glance from Gabrielle ("We have to be as quiet as possible or the Death-Eaters will hear us").

Soon they were ready to go, Gabrielle explained the plan, "We're gonna sneak out through a side door. There's got to be one somewhere. If not, there's always the waste chute in the kitchen."

"You're right. She does read too many adventure stories," said Gabrielle. Everyone (except Gabrielle of course, who was looking rather sour at this) laughed. Jon nudged Emily and she was glad to see him happy after how he had been back at Hogwarts.

They set off, towards the door of the dungeon, ready for anything. That is, until the bumped into the people they least expected to run into. They certainly weren't ready for…half of the Order of the Phoenix standing in the doorway with their wands out.

The two groups stood for a second looking dumbfounded. Finally Lupin broke out of the group and ran forward to greet the students. Soon everyone meshed and quietly proceeded back into the dungeons where they could talk with a little less worry.

"How dare you seven go to rescue them? You put your lives at stake when you should have left this to us. Ron, if you're mother was here she'd shout at you 'til you wished you were never born," scolded Kingsley Shacklebolt. He smiled guiltily, "Luckily, we had told her to stay behind and call for backup if we didn't return so you're safe with us… until we get back to Headquarters."

"I can't believe you're okay," exclaimed Lupin to Emily. "I was so worried…you can't imagine." He was standing in front of her, looking relieved. It was an awkward moment. They weren't sure whether they should hug or just stand there.

Emily smiled back at him. "I'm glad you're here too. Maybe you can help us. You-Know-Who said some awful things about you," she shivered, "But I never believed him for a second. I just wanted you to be safe. If you had come alone you'd be his prisoner. How did you get here anyway?"

"Long story," Lupin sighed. "Emily, what lies did Voldemort tell you about me? Are you sure they were…lies?" he asked seriously.

Emily made a face. "Of course I am. What he said was ridiculous. I…"

"Everyone, we need a plan to get out," Gabrielle said loudly to everyone. The dungeon was quiet. Gabrielle quivered a little to be in charge of so many people." She took a deep breath and with an encouraging nod from Tonks continued, "We should get out of here soon before anyone comes to check on the 'prisoners.' I have a plan," she suggested.

"No time." A man Emily didn't know shook his head. "Death-Eaters could be here any minute. We have to run and jump- improvise if we have to do anything drastic. We need to get out."

Everyone nodded. Sneakily, the wizards and witches began to climb out of the dungeon.

"When we get outside," whispered the man who Emily hadn't known, "make a run for it. It's almost a full moon so we'll be able to see where we're going. Don't risk yourself for anything stupid. Got it, let's go."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

They ran through Malfoy Manor, navigating their ways through the twisting corridors and numerous rooms. Genny knew the way better than anyone else so she took the lead. Her effort seemed to be futile. The house just went on and on.

"No wonder Draco's such a prat," Ron whispered to Hermione at one point. "With a house as big as this, who wouldn't be? I could fit fifteen of my house in this house! It's crazy! I…"

"Ron," Harry said suddenly, interrupting, "please shut up." Ron rolled his eyes and stopped talking.

"I think…" hesitated Genny as she ran around a corner. She stopped, half the group crashing into her from behind. "Bingo," she whispered.

"What's a bingo?" Ron asked Ryan.

In front of them was a long hall; at the end of that, a door. They all made a mad dash for the door. It swung open and they all ran through. Once they reached a forest on the boundary of the Malfoys' land, they stopped to catch their breaths.

But something seemed wrong to Emily. She just couldn't realize what it was. She looked at the group. 15 Order members and the nine students…WAIT! There weren't nine students. There were only 7.

"Where are Luciana and Gabrielle!" Emily barked.

Jon looked around and turned back to her looking pale. "They're not here."

Ryan smacked his forehead, "I know what must've happened to them. I saw Luciana trip, and Gabrielle slowed down to help her. I though they were still right behind me though. They must have gotten left behind."

Without another word, Harry tried to run back towards the manor. Lupin grabbed his arm and shook his head. Emily understood why. It was too dangerous. If they went back now they'd all be killed.

"We can't just leave them!" protested Genny. "They came to save us, now we have to save them. It's better to do it now then make another trip. Voldemort won't have a use for them like he did us. He'll kill them both."

Tonks cursed. "Okay, the Order will go back. Shacklebolt, you stay with the kids. Protect them. If we're not back my midnight then gets help."

The Order ran off, leaving them almost alone.

Shacklebolt shook his head, "I know what you're all thinking, but you can't do it."

"Why not?" objected Genny. "We'll be fine."

Harry was about to say something when a curse burst through the bushes and hit Shacklebolt square in the chest. Another came a second later throwing Harry bright on top of Shacklebolt. They were both thrown backwards into other bushes. The whole group gasped and turned to see who the curses had come from.

Seamus leered menacingly from the dark shadows. "You guys forget to invite me along, eh?"

Nobody responded.

"What? Speechless? Yeah, so I'm here. Whatcha gonna do now?"

Harry lifted himself out of the bushes, wearily. Panting, he asked, "What…what do you want, Seamus?"

Seamus sneered. "Still calling me Seamus? When you've already figured out that I have the Imperius curse on me? There's no use pretending anymore," he leaned on the tree beside him and winked at Genny. "I'm not Seamus. Seamus was barely at school at all this year."

"I can't believe you!" shouted Genny suddenly. She ran at Seamus. Harry and Ryan had to grab her, but she kept on struggling violently and screeching as if trying to break free and scratch Seamus's eyes out. "I'm gonna get you for what you did to me! You tricked me! You used Seamus! I'm gonna hurt you so bad you'll wish you had never been born!"

Seamus shrugged. "Seamus won't feel it. The death-eater controlling Seamus won't feel it. Only you will feel it."

Genny screamed one last time and by kicking Ryan managed to break free of the boys. She ran at Seamus and tried to punch him. He grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back.

He grinned. "Anyone else wanna try?"

Simpering in pain, Genny cursed at him. He threw Genny to the ground. Emily pulled her away before she tried anything else stupid.

Jon and Emily exchanged worried looks. "We'll have to fight him," Emily whispered to Jon.

Jon shook his head slowly so Seamus wouldn't see. "There are ways other than fighting. Leave it to me." He turned to Seamus. "So, hey Seamus, I was just thinking. If we're going to die anyway, or something, you might as well quench our curiosity. I've been wondering who's been Imperiusing you."

When Seamus turned to face Jon, Harry and Hermione took it as their chance to get help. They ran the other direction without Seamus noticing. Ron took the chance to see if Shacklebolt, who was still lying motionless in the bushes, was okay.

Seamus shrugged. "Can't hurt, but in the end it won't matter if you're still curious. You'll be dead." He laughed. "Can't ask many questions if you're not alive, but I'll tell you anyway. It was that new transfiguration Professor, Professor Hite."

"Eww, that old guy was making you say all those romantic things to me, and tell me how hot I was. Ewwww!" Genny shuddered.

Seamus smirked at her, but it soon fell. "Where are the others?" he roared after he realized it was just him, Jon, Ron, Ryan, Emily, Genny, and an unconscious Shacklebolt in the clearing.

"They can apparate, Seamus, can't you?" asked Jon innocently.

Snarling, Seamus held his wand up to Jon's throat. Any second he felt like it he could kill him and there was no chance of him missing his target. "You CAN'T apparate on these grounds. The Dark Lord would never have it. Where did they run off to, really? Answer or you're dead."

"With your plans for us I'm as good as dead anyway," Jon retorted.

"STUPEFY!" shouted Seamus. Emily cried out as the spell hit him and his unconscious body dropped to the ground. Her eyes wide with fear, she looked up. There was nothing human in the gaze she received back. Seamus was possessed by some demon of a Death-Eater. Emily broke the stare.

"What a way to spend my birthday," she whispered, with tears in her eyes.

"Today's your birthday?" asked Genny. "You should have told us."

"It's been a stressful month. I sort of forgot…until now. Which means, it must be a full moon." Emily looked to the sky. "Yeah, I remember my mom mentioning that before she left. She found it amusing somehow."

"Full moon?" Emily looked up to find Seamus looking frightened. He backed away from her, trembling.

"Seamus?" she asked. Why would a possessed Seamus be afraid of her?

"Yeah, Emily. Where are we?" he asked, shaking.

Emily stood up and walked towards him.

"No!" he hollered, recoiling from her.

"Seamus, what the heck? It's Emily? Now are you yourself or that stupid Death-Eater?" Genny spat.

"I'm Seamus," Seamus trembled, "But while the Death-Eater possessed me, the last few seconds, I saw into part of his mind."

"You read his mind?" asked Emily amazed, taking a step closer to him.

He yelped and scurried backwards. "Get away, werewolf!"

Everyone froze.

"W…werewolf?" asked Ron, unbelieving.

Emily just stood while they all stared at her. Suddenly she burst out laughing. The others exchanged looks as if Emily had gone mental.

"Emily?" asked Genny.

"Sorry," apologized Emily as she calmed herself down, still shaking her head with laughter. "But guys, I'm not a werewolf! That's just ridiculous! Look," she pointed to the moon. "Full moon. I'm not all big, scary, and hairy, am I? I'm no werewolf, guys. Why the hell would the Death-Eater think I was?"

"Your dad is," pointed out Ryan. "I never thought of it until now. It would be weird having a werewolf as a girlfriend." He didn't notice Jon's dirty look.

"My dad's not a werewolf," Emily rolled her eyes. 'He would tell me something like THAT,' she thought to herself. 'Or would he? He never got to telling me much. Maybe he never told me.' She laughed at herself. Lupin wasn't a werewolf. That would be ridiculous. What kind of school would let a werewolf teach Defense against the Dark Arts?

"Yeah, he is," shrugged Ron. "I've seen him change. But you're not so whatever. Let's go get help since Seamus is himself again."

"Hey, Genny. Sorry for what the Death-Eater made me do. I really do like you," Seamus said, shyly.

"Oh, Seamus!" cried Genny, hugging him around the neck.

Emily smiled. "So what'll we do? Go get help from the rest of the Order or follow them?"

"We don't know the way out of the forest," Ryan pointed out.

"Well, let's just call our magical, little fairy friends to help us find our way to Neverland then," joked Emily cheerfully.

Ryan was lost. "Where's Neverland?"

"You really need to watch some muggle movies, man," chuckled Jon, patting Ryan on the shoulder and walking past him to Emily.

"Emily, sorry I was so jealous over Ryan. You can still date him if you like," Jon said, not looking Emily in the eye.

"You approve?" asked Emily, with a wild, mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Jon nodded sadly.

"Well, no matter. I'm over him anyway," said Emily, unable to contain her huge grin.

Jon looked up confused. Emily tackled him to the ground and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Behind them, Genny coughed. Embarrassed, Emily stood up with her blushing face and shrugged with a guilty grin.

She looked to Ryan. He shrugged. "It's cool. We weren't really going anywhere anyway. I still wanna be your friend though, Em."

Emily grinned, "That's great! Now, we might as well get going."

"How?" asked Ron.

Genny bit her lip and finally her eyes lit up, "Well, I didn't just live with Weasley's when I grew up."

"You mean…?" asked Ron.

"Yup," she grinned. "Just give me a minute to call them."

"Call who?" asked Jon, confused.

"You'll see," winked Genny.

Minutes later a piercing whistle rang throughout the forest.

"There they are!" Ron called, pointing to the sky.

"Who?" asked Ryan, squinting at the dark sky, illuminated only by the full moon.

"Well, I grew up with more than a bunch of muggles and mad-men, didn't you know?" she smiled wryly.

"Brilliant," whispered Seamus.

Landing in front of them were five absolutely beautiful griffins. They cawed, stretching out their long elegant, feathered necks. Ruffling their wings, they peered at the group, one tilting its head sharply like a curious pigeon.

"Knoma!" Genny cried, running towards one of the smaller griffins and wrapping it in a big hug. The griffin shook her off as if surprised or angry. For a minute it stood looking at Genny. Suddenly the griffin took off towards Genny and soon the two were in a wrestling frenzy.

Emily screeched as one of the griffins hobbled over to her. It tilted its head curiously.

"Emily, don't be afraid! That's the mom, Gjetis. She raised me for a bit after my real parents left me outside. A few years later I met my muggle Weasley relations and they took me in," Genny was grinning madly. She even looked mad the way she was half sitting on, half head-locking the griffin she had called Knoma. Emily said as much and Genny just laughed. "Knoma's my sister. We always play when we get together."

Shaking his head as his girlfriend returned to shrieking and play with her foster-sister, Seamus asked Emily, "Have you ever seen such a strange sight."

Emily smirked, "Well, if you count the time at Hogwarts when I Ron and Hermione climbing behind a curtain to do some serious snogging…"

Seamus held up a hand, "I really didn't need to know that." But he was grinning, and so was Jon.

"C'mon guys, we have our ride," shouted Genny to the others.

"What? You can't ride a griffin!" shouted Ryan in amazement.

"Yeah, aren't they dangerous…or something…I think," added Ron, oblivious as ever.

Genny just waved her arm, inviting them to come over. "This is my family. They said they'd be glad to help us."

"You mean you can talk to them?" asked Jon, amazed.

Genny made a face. "Duh."

It was at that point that Emily doubted she would ever be surprised again.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

In just moment they were off, flying above the woods they had hidden in. They had left Shacklebolt behind, hoping that some Order members would be able to find him later. He was too big to try to drag onto the griffins and he would only get in the way.

"The castle's that way," shouted Genny over the roar of the wind, pointing towards the large, gray, stone building that was sitting just under the nearly full moon.

"We need to get as close as possible without being seen or heard. How are we gonna do that?" asked Ryan.

"I got it!" shouted Ron, looking very proud of himself. "Harry found a spell in his old potion book that we used a lot last year. It was awesome. I bet that would help. Mufliato!"

They flew for a moment with no words.

"Ummm, Ron. What did it do?" asked Genny, skeptically.

"Nobody can hear us. They only hear a buzzing noise," Ron grinned proudly.

Emily shook her head and said softly, "Let's keep an eye out, anyway. No offense, Ron."

Ron shrugged, "It's fine. Hey look, is that Ron and Hermione? I thought they went to get help!"

"They probably couldn't apparate out because Malfoy Manor has a spell like Hogwarts. I thought they would have tried to leave the grounds though," suggested Jon.

"There are big gates around the whole Manor. There's no way out unless you can fly, have a key, or Lucius Malfoy gives you floo powder and lets you use his personal fire. You have to use a certain type of floo powder though," Genny explained, keeping her eyes on the house.

"So if we get separated, then there'll be almost no way out?" asked Ryan.

Nobody spoke. Nobody wanted to anymore.

"Wait! There's something behind us!" shouted Genny suddenly.

"It's gaining on us! Genny do something!" shouted Jon.

Genny bit her lip. "What can I do?" She thought for a few more seconds then began squawking frantically at the griffins.

Emily turned to see what was behind them and froze. All the happiness was draining from her. All of the hope she had just minutes ago had dissolved. Dementor.

"Genny!" screeched Emily.

Genny spoke to the griffins even faster. Soon they had broken into a dive, making all of the kids hold on for dear life. But despite how fast or wild they flew, the dementors were right behind them. One of them made a grab for the griffin Emily was on and grabbed her short, dark brown hair.

She yelled from surprise and pain as her body, grabbing the griffin she was riding as hard as it possibly could, was pulled away from her hand which was now in the dementor's grasp. Tears flowed into her eyes. She didn't want to make much more noise than she had already made. They were getting closer and closer to Malfoy Manor.

The others turned around and tried to help her. A few cried "Expecto Patronum" but they were too surprised in all the chaos to be able to produce a strong enough patronus.

By the time Emily couldn't help shouting in pain again, the dementors had begun to go after the other kids too.

The one holding Emily managed to pull her head back enough so that she was facing the sky. Emily grimaced, knowing what was coming.

As the dementor lowered its hood, Emily tried harder than ever to pull away, but it was hopeless. It lowered in for the kiss.

"Emily!" shouted Jon. "Expecto Patronum!" A burst of light so strong that it almost made Emily fall off her griffin burst from Jon's wand. The dementor attacking Emily was thrown back and fell behind.

"Wow, Jon! How did you do that? That must've been really powerful," Emily commented in shock.

Jon was sweating with the effort of keeping his spell up, driving away the other dementors. "Yeah, well I did learn a thing or two at Durmstrang. Not much, but I learned that."

Emily laughed and tried to summon up her own patronus, but she couldn't figure out what to do besides watching the spell so she just watched Jon's antelope patronus fight off the dementors. Now they were flying very close to the ground…and right into Malfoy Manor.

"Genny, the griffins are going to crash!" Emily shouted.

Genny shook her head with a weak smile. "They'll stop. Don't worry."

Much to everyone's relief, the griffins stopped feet away from the back side of the Manor. Jon drove away the last dementor that had been attacking Ryan. He grinned at Emily, rocked back and forth as he lost his balance, and fell face first off the griffin.

"Jon!" yelped Emily, climbing off her griffin and going to help her friend. "It was too much for him," she cried. "Is he going to be okay?"

Ryan felt his pulse. "He's a little breathless but in a few minutes he should be fine." When Seamus shot him a questioning glance, he shrugged and answered, "My mum's a muggle doctor."

Indeed, in a few minutes they were ready to go on, but the griffins were exhausted.

"Only one place to go now," shrugged Jon when he had gotten his strength back. "Inside to rescue Gabrielle and Luciana. No use going for help now."

A deep, pained howl came from inside the manor.

"Then again, wouldn't it be safer out here?" suggested Ryan.

"What was that?" asked Emily, confused.

"Lupin," groaned Ron.

"What?" asked Emily.

"Not you. Your dad!"

"What the hell are you all talking about? That was an animal, not my dad," Emily huffed.

Ron and Genny looked at each other and simultaneously declared, "Denial."

"Emily, I know you don't really get it, or maybe you just don't want to believe us, but just listen. You're dad is a dangerous magical animal!" explained Genny with complete exasperation, knowing Emily still wouldn't get it through her head.

Emily crossed her arms. "Yeah right. If he was a werewolf, then what would that make me? A werewolf-human crossbreed? That's just disturbingly wrong."

"Well, I'm sure you have some werewolf in you. You're loyal and fun like a dog…or wolf. Hermione would probably know. We can ask her," Ron nodded encouragingly, clueless as always.

"We don't have any idea where she is now, Ron. She and Harry could be anywhere!" sighed Ryan.

Ron shrugged. "They're coming towards us now."

Sure enough, Harry and Hermione, looking weary and desperate, were trekking across the grounds of Malfoy Manor. They had come out of the door, turned to the side and seen the group and the griffins.

"It's done," Hermione said simply with a grimace. She sounded like she had grown years older in just the small amount of time since they had snuck away from the possessed Seamus.

"What's done?" asked Genny.

"The prophecy," Harry said simply. He had a look in his eye as if he couldn't focus on anything and the world around him was just a dream that he was only half involved in.

"Huh?" asked Seamus.

"You mean…" Ron gawked at Harry. "You did it! You actually did it!"

Harry nodded. Ron jumped up giddily and hugged Harry. "You survived, mate! I can't believe it! You did it!"

"What did you do?" Emily finally asked, frustrated.

In reply, Harry threw something down at her feet. Upon inspection Emily found it to be an odd looking wand. It looked burned at the tip, and was snapped in the middle. The dark wood looked strangely dull and useless.

Emily took a deep breath and looked to see how Harry was taking it. He had completed everything his life had been about. There was no more need for revenge; there were no more times he'd have to risk his life and others to save the wizarding world. Harry looked tired beyond belief. Nothing anybody said would ever let him get over what he had done. Harry was not a killer at heart and never would be. There was too much love in him.

"How did the Death-Eaters take it?" Emily asked, tonelessly.

"They're as mad as hell. They let your father loose on us. We had to make a run for it."

Emily's throat stuck. "What?" she felt like she was going to choke. They couldn't all be serious, could they? Was Remus Lupin, the father that she had finally discovered, really a monstrous beast? She began to sweat.

"It's a full moon," Hermione sobbed, "The clouds were blocking it earlier so it didn't look completely full, but it is. He's a werewolf right now and he never drank the potion. There was too much going on. Right before he had transformed, he apologized to us. Luckily he was in a separate cage from the rest of the Order and Luciana and Gabrielle. I think they knew it was a full moon and he was going to transform. But we had thrown them the others before…so now they're somewhere in the Manor with an angry werewolf after them and nowhere to hide and it's all our fault!" Hermione threw herself at Ron and sobbed onto his shoulder while he patted her back sympathetically.

Emily stared into the dark sky, unable to believe anything she heard.

"So he could be anywhere on the Malfoy's property. That's not good," shivered Ryan.

There was a shout from the Malfoy doorway. Emily didn't hear it. She was still in her daze. The world was floating around her like a thick mist in a dream. She wasn't aware of anything around her almost, but the presence of her own mind. She mildly noticed the others diving to the side, and the feel of something sinking into her arm. When she fell down, she barely screamed. She barely noticed her body changing into that of a monster.


	30. Chapter 30

_**Chapter 30**_

Chaos…the one word to describe what was happening at the Malfoy Manor. From the Death Eaters inside running around, unknowing who to take orders from, Malfoy trying to take control and follow Voldemort's path, the scared group of Hogwarts students trying to figure out what to do now that Emily was a large, unconscious wolf lying at their feet with a mean and pained expression on its face, and the hungry werewolf that was Remus Lupin snarling at any person who tried to come near him and snapping at anyone on the Malfoy grounds he could reach. The Order had found their way out and was trying to capture Lupin so they could get him under control. Yes, the best word to describe the anger and confusion at that time was chaos…complete and total chaos.

"We must find Potter and kill him before this gets out! We can still reign as Death Eaters, purifying the Wizard race without the Dark Lord. But this cannot get out! Find him kill him!" snarled Lucius Malfoy.

The Death Eaters in the manor were running around trying to find their prisoners and check if Voldemort's wards had gone done now that he was dead. In the confusion of all the orders, nobody heard was Lucius was saying. That is, everybody except Draco Malfoy didn't hear him. Draco was standing quietly in the corner, completely ignored. He was shocked, yes; now that Voldemort couldn't threaten to kill his family he was free, truly free; but now that Lucius Malfoy was in control, there would be no rest for Malfoy. He would be expected to be one of the most prominent Death Eaters, and he would be told to kill people without having a say. Even with Voldemort gone, Draco would still be under a lot of pressure. However, now there was nothing anyone could use against him. His father couldn't threaten to kill anyone Draco loved, like Voldemort had used Narcissa and Lucius, for now Draco loved no one and nothing. There was no school for Draco to be kicked out of, nor any friends who wouldn't talk to him if he deserted the dark side. Crabbe and Goyle had been nothing more than tools; they were too stupid to be friends. Pansy Parkinson's praise he would miss a little bit, but Pansy had only wanted to be his husband because he was rich and his family was in the Dark Lords inner circle. She would only use him now, and he didn't need that.

Draco knew what he had to do, but it was more dangerous even than going up to Lucius Malfoy and spitting in his face. He had to secretly desert, and help the people who never in a million years would accept him. But he couldn't do it alone. Who else could he get to desert? It hit him so hard that he was amazed he hadn't thought of it before.

"Wormtail," Draco hissed and he pulled the murder of Lily and James Potter out of the crowd of wizards rushing through the halls.

"Draco? I really have to go check the wards and fix them. Please let me go before your father finds out I'm slacking. I-" Pettigrew squeaked with fear as Draco shook his head with a determined glint in his eye.

"It doesn't matter about the wards anymore. Wormtail, I know you. You like to feel safe. You like to be surrounded by the leading source of power. Face it, Pettigrew. The dark Lord's gone for good and the Death Eaters now will beer succeed." Draco lied the best he could, forcing his force to sound sure and strong. "The good side will have the most power. We need to desert. My father won't notice. You won't be in his inner circle, like you were the Dark Lords. You'll be thrown aside like a used rag. Come with me and you'll have another chance at life."

"Is…is this a test or something? I…" Pettigrew squeaked.

Draco replied simply, "No. Follow me if you dare. If not, I'll have to knock you out."

Pettigrew shivered and followed the youngest Malfoy through lesser used halls and down the back stairs to the party garden in the back of the house, filled with dangerous plants and magical vegetation that even Professor Sprout wouldn't have been able to identify or grow."

"I'm sure they're here somewhere," Draco muttered.

"Who?" asked Pettigrew surprised. He had thought they were leaving, not helping somebody here.

"Anybody. The Order of the Phoenix, Potter and Co., the werewolf…someone from the good side. I'm going to help them so they can overthrow my father."

Pettigrew gasped but was pulled along before he had the chance to comment. Sneakily, Draco snuck around the house until a stranger group of people was finally in view.

"Who…?" Pettigrew began to ask, but Draco shot him a look that clearly told him to keep his mouth shut.

Draco scampered across the yard with Pettigrew close behind. He snuck up behind Genny, and Seamus, hidden by the bushes so that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus, and Ryan couldn't see him…yet.

"She's a werewolf!" Hermione was crying. "We couldn't stop him." Ron absentmindedly patted her on the back, but he was obviously unaware of what he was doing.

Draco smirked. He had always known those two geeks would end up together.

"We need to get her to Hogwarts," Harry commanded. Nobody moved. "Ummm…guys? Somebody needs to. We can't leave her here to be alone when she turns back into a human!"

Genny turned indignantly to him. "And how do you suggest we carry a two hundred pound werewolf, genius? Even with magic, who'd want to? You do it if you're so brave."

Harry, looking weary after his consuming battle with Voldemort opened his mouth to reply, but before he could reply Jon said, "We have to work together. Everyone calm down. We're just scared and worried. We need to relax."

"I'm not scared," snapped Genny.

"Yeah, she's just cranky. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Ryan snickered to Seamus.

Genny turned on him and growled, "Got a problem with that, freak!"

"Now, Genny. Forget it. Sorry I said it. I didn't mean it like that. We're scared for Emily and worried if Death Eaters will be coming to catch us," Jon tried to reassure her, quickly.

Now was his chance. Draco stepped from behind the bushes saying confidently, "Oh, don't worry. The Death Eaters are too busy fixing Voldemort's security wards to look for you." His drawling tone made everyone jump. Everyone (except Emily of course who was lying on the ground unconscious) snapped out their wands at pointed them at Malfoy…but nobody did any magic.

Malfoy nodded at Emily. "Normally I'd say 'Why bother with her; she's a dangerous monster however unconscious she is,' but if I guess if we're going to be working on your side from now on I should try not to say things like that, hmm?"

"Our side?" gasped Hermione, with a look of hatred on her face. "You almost killed Dumbledore! You cursed us and teased us and sold us out to Umbridge, and now you expect us to believe you'd just switch sides? How stupid do you think we are, Malfoy?"

"Well, judging by your grades I think you're the least stupid witch in the entire school," Draco shrugged. Hermione froze, with a look of astonishment on her face. Draco continued, "As for killing Dumbledore, I couldn't. I was too...afraid, I guess, even though it shames me to admit it. The only reason I ever did any of those things- try to kill Dumbledore, threaten you a few months ago- was because the Dark Lord was threatening to kill my family if I didn't. Now he's gone and my father's in control and…well…he can't really threaten to kill himself," Draco finished lamely.

Ron looked to Harry to see what he thought. Harry shook his head.

"Look, I'm serious! I give up on being one of the bad guys! It's just how I was raised. I can't help that. Potter…er, Harry… you were raised to not know about magic. Ron, you were raised to be a mug…good person who doesn't care how wizarding background. I was raised to be a pureblood git. I'm sorry. Besides, I brought more help." Draco yanked the cloak that was sitting out from the bushes, making Pettigrew stumble out to his feet, looking around at the group squeaking in fear.

"Hel…hello, Harry. Ron." He muttered nodding at them.

Ron looked disgusted. This horrible man had lived in Ron's pocket for years as his pet and he had never even known. This man had shared Ron's room…which was pretty perverted and nasty now that Ron thought back on it…but anyway…!

"Emily would kill you if she saw you," warned Genny. "You're the one who freaked her out when she was living in that muggle town, weren't you? You must've been, I can't imagine there are many people in the world that Emily could call a rat-man, but you're one of the special ones, aren't you? Whoopee for you!" Genny was so sarcastic that Pettigrew was whimpering in fear from her.

"You don't understand what it was like working under the Dark Lord-"

"Yeah, you had to betray my parents, yadda, yadda, yadda. Already heard it! What do you want, Wormtail?" Harry accused, crossing his arms.

"Well, I guess…I'm here with Draco."

"You need a better reason than that for us to trust you," pointed out Seamus who was beginning to understand who Pettigrew was.

"Draco pointed out…to me…that the…the Dark Lord's side's not as strong as it used to be…and I'd be useless to Lucius Malfoy…I'd probably be killed…and I...I…" at this, looking frantic, Pettigrew threw himself at Harry's feet and began sobbing, "You saved my life three years ago. Please save it again now. I'll help you! I'll tell you everything I know. Please have mercy! I promise I'll help you."

Harry looked up with a look of disgust on his face, then he gently kicked Pettigrew away from his feet and helped him to stand up. Even standing, Pettigrew was much shorter than Harry. That's what he got for being a rat for so long.

Harry looked him in the eye, "You promise you'll be on our side."

Pettigrew nodded despairingly.

"And you won't betray us no matter what."

"I…I promise," gasped Pettigrew. "I promise on…on your father. And on you! You saved my life so I'll try to save yours."

"Sure you will," grunted Ron. "But only if you get to keep your own life in the bargain."

Ignoring this comment, everyone introduced themselves to Pettigrew, and Jon and Ryan introduced themselves to Malfoy.

"Another Granger then?" Draco asked when Jon introduced himself. "And I felt clueless enough with one around." But he was grinning and everyone knew he was joking. As much as they had detested Malfoy before, now they were trying to accept him for who he was.

Jon grinned back. "Yep. That's us Grangers. Smarter than the average geek."

When Hermione huffed crossly, Jon shrugged at her and she rolled her eyes.

Ryan glanced at the forgotten Emily. "Ummm, guys. What are we gonna do now? We have a werewolf to take care of, a couple of traitors, a bunch of i _students /i , _and who knows how many Death Eaters running around. Not to mention a 'conscious' werewolf somewhere who could easily tear us limb from limb."

"Gees, Ryan. Thanks for the great mental picture," winced Genny.

"Well for starters," smirked Draco. "As soon as the sun comes up and… Lupin was it? Like the teacher? Good god, that's insane… changes back, we can overtake the manor and find the central meeting room. All the Death Eaters will meet there in a few hours, and if we're lucky, I know a perfect way to steal all there wands, making them powerless until they get new ones," he said with a malicious smile on his face.

While Draco began to explain his plan, Genny looked up at him with great admiration. She bit her lip and looked back to the group, but her smile never left. Draco also looked up at Genny oddly a few times. This strong-willed daughter of Death-Eaters could stand against the Dark Lord, and so could he. He remembered helping her when she had gotten her Dark Mark. The feeling of helping someone other than himself had haunted him ever since...but in a good way.


	31. Chapter 31

_**Chapter 31**_

AN: Sorry for any confusion. Too many characters!

BTW, the stuff Draco and the others will find is stuff from my other fan fictions. It's not important to the story, but I was just having fun with it.

BTW again, sorry I took so long to write the chapter. I had extreme writer's block!

Eventually Emily transformed back to being a human regained consciousness. After getting over her initial shock at seeing Draco Malfoy (which included a bit of threatening, jinxing, and yelling) she took a deep breath and asked what had happened.

"Ummmm…you fainted," Hermione explained hesitating, sounding apologetic.

"Why?" Emily asked confused. Everyone exchanged looks, but nobody said anything until Jon commented, "Probably stress…and maybe some other stuff, I guess."

"So what's the plan?" asked Harry, rubbing his hands together, trying to change the conversation.

Emily gave everyone a questioning look. Everyone was serious and silent. She decided she would question them more about her "faint attack" later.

Draco hesitated for a moment. Could he really go through with this? Laying his hand on the wall, he explained, "When the Malfoy Manor was built back in the 1600's, they didn't have as good material as today. They used softer blocks of stone from a nearby quarry. Cheap and accessible basically." Making sure anyone was actually listening, he continued, "But in the late 1800's there was a fire in the kitchen and that, along with a few misused spells, blew apart most of the house and they had to switch to a more solid material. But this small area of the house survived the fire, so it's still the soft type of stone. Even when the Manor was refurbished, they skipped over this part of the house because it was away from the areas of the house where they would be likely to be damaged. It's like pushing a puzzle piece into place. We just have to get through the wall. Or you do anyway, I suppose I could always go through the front door saying I fell out a window or something stupid and help you from inside."

"I just have one question," asked Hermione, slyly. "How the hell do you know all this, Malfoy?"

"Stupid Malfoy family tradition," he muttered under his breath. "And please, I thought you agreed to call me Draco."

"It takes getting used to," shrugged Harry. "After all, I've only hated you like a headache for the past 6 years. It makes sense that it takes a while for us to change our views."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Well, get used to it now. I'm gonna help you save your friends, and the Order, so be happy with it. Now if we can get these featherbrains," he jerked his thumb in the direction of the griffins," to help us out-"

Genny broke into giggles. "Feather brains? Oh that's so funny. I have to tell that one to Knoma." Genny abruptly broke into squawks and chirps, smiling."

The griffin reared and made a swipe at Draco with its front talons. "Uh oh," whispered Genny, looking pale. "I didn't mean to insult her. Knoma!"

The angry chestnut griffin charged at Draco. Draco yelped and dove out of the way.

CRASH! The wall collapsed and smoke obstructed the view of the group. When it cleared, they saw a confused griffin standing in the basement of the Malfoy Manor, with fallen stones blending with the marble floors of the indoors. It was a site to make anyone smile. The gloom that had settled over the group had left. Now they were going to party.

Somebody grabbed Emily from behind. She screamed and kicked out. The Death-Eater fell down with a grunt.

"Run!" shouted Ryan.

As fast as they could, they sprinted into the manor. The basement was a labyrinth. No matter where they turned all they could find was more and more obstacles and choices. "What is wrong with these people?" Genny shouted out at one point in frustration. She looked to Draco, "Sorry. No offense." He shrugged it off. "It seems my Malfoy ancestors were schizophrenic or just totally mental! Let's try this way. I think it leads to the center of the house."

They wandered. For almost an hour they traveled throughout the maze that was the basement of the Malfoy house. It seemed no matter where they went they would travel by a place that looked extremely familiar.

"Maybe we should leave a trail of bread crumbs," Emily smirked after a while.

Harry laughed, and mostly everyone else gave her an annoyed (or in Ron's case, clueless) look.

"Maybe Malfoy here's just trying to confuse us," accused Seamus.

"In case you've forgotten already," Malfoy sneered, "I'm on your side now. I'm helping YOU to get your 'little pals' free. I knew you weren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'd think you'd understand something as simple as that."

"Now, guys," groaned Genny, "just shut up and get along. None of us like this! We all want to go back home, or to Hogwarts so let's just get this done with as painlessly as possible."

"Okay," agreed Draco quickly.

"And there you go again mooning over my cousin!" shouted Ron, despite Harry and Emily's protests. "You'd agree to anything she said. It's disgusting."

"Ron, you're such a freak! Get a grip!" shouted Genny.

"You're the one who's gone mental here," Ron retorted.

"We need to calm down. Let's just get along," Harry suggested, putting his hand on Ron's shoulder.

Ron pulled away. "Give it a rest Harry. You think you always know what you should be doing, but you're just as lost as any of us. We can't trust Malfoy! We learned that in our first year when he tricked us into trying to have a midnight duel and he set Filch on us."

"What is it with you!" Harry exploded. "You get mad at me and Hermione over the stupidest things! You're so damn stubborn! You're my best mate, but sometimes I question whether you're worthy of that!"

"Worthy?" shouted Ron. "Worthy!"

"Here we go again," muttered Jon to Emily.

"You think you're so great!" Ron shouted. "The 'Boy who lived.' The great Harry Potter. Rita Skeeter was right about you! You're just a delusional, attention-seeking boy who thinks he's royal enough to have to have people be 'worthy' of his friendship! You have no clue! About anything! You deserve to live at the Dursleys, 'cause you're certainly too stuck up to be a wizard!"

There was complete silence for a minute. Harry finally broke it with, "Fine, if that's how you feel we'll split up."

"Fine," shrugged Ron, crossing his arms.

"Fine," agreed Harry. They began to walk in opposite directions. Genny ran after Harry as to spite Ron for calling her mental.

"Stop!" Emily shouted. "We can't just split up!"

"Why not?" snapped Harry and Ron simultaneously.

"We'll be better if we stay together," Emily said, surely.

"Actually, it could be better if we're in two groups. That way if the Death-Eaters catch one group, the other group could still get away," was Jon's input. Seamus nodded in agreement.

"Strength in number!" answered Emily.

"Pff! Yeah right," Genny rolled her eyes.

"We should probably just find a way back to Hogwarts to get help. We're just kids," suggested Ryan. Everyone leered at him for that. He shrunk away. "Or not."

Now there were multiple groups. It was an awful way to go on, which they all knew, but there was so much tension that either way there was going to be a huge problem soon. Harry, Genny, and Draco stood together, opposite from Ron, and Hermione who was trying to clam him down and shooting desperate looks at Harry. Jon and Seamus were facing down Emily. Emily and Genny were also staring angrily at each other, and Ryan was just cowering from…well….everyone!

"Well, we're splitting up no matter what," Hermione pointed out miserably. I suppose Harry, Genny, Jon, Draco and Seamus should go in one group. Emily, Ryan, Ron and I will go in the other group. But we still have to get out of here first."

"Oh yeah," said Draco suddenly. "I think there was a spell on this part of the Manor that whole groups can't stay together and still find a way out. It was to keep out rebellions or attacks so they could be taken out in smaller groups. At least, I think it was this part of the Manor. It's so huge, it's hard to remember."

"Well, that's awfully convenient," huffed Ron.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Genny, Draco, and Seamus rushed him off in the other direction. Before he followed the rest of that group, Hermione grabbed Jon and whispered, "Do whatever you can to make Harry be friends with Ron again. I'll do the same. But we can't let them stay angry at each other." Jon nodded and ran after the others.

"Well, I guess we should try this way," Hermione suggested to Emily, Ryan, and Ron, pointing to a narrow hallway jutting out an odd angle.

Without replying, Ron walked down the hall and everyone else followed him. Soon they were going through a door that led to the main part of the house.

"See, now, wasn't that easy without THEM holding us back," Ron gloated.

"It was probably just the spell Draco told us about," Hermione begged.

"Sure," sneered Ron, "and I'm a flying flobberworm. Y'know how he only mentioned that spell after we had started to split up? That was only too convenient. It's like he wanted his Death-Eater father to pick us off easier. And Harry's on his side! What the hell is wrong with him!"

"Ron!" pleaded Hermione.

"Just give up, Hermione. They hate each other for now. Let's just get Gabrielle, Luciana, and the Order and get out of here," Emily said.

"I can't believe Ron!" Harry burst out. "Calling me a delusional, attention-seeking git! Saying that Skeeter woman was right about me! If you ask me, he has it backwards! He's the stupid git!"

"And calling me mental and Draco a liar!" Genny protested, her face almost as red as her hair. It was times like these when she seemed to be a real Weasley. Jon didn't want to comment, but with being so angry and all she looked a lot like her cousin, Ginny.

"He was just upset about being lost in the basement," Draco shrugged. He put his arm around Genny's waist and muttered to her, "The stupid git!"

Harry turned to Draco and said angrily, "Are you sure we'll find our way out of here!"

Draco hesitated, "I think so. A path out should just lead us out without us realizing it."

"Is that it?" asked Jon, pointing at a door at the end of the hall.

"Let's see," said Harry, angrily yanking open the door. Inside was an odd assortment of items. There was a large, silver machine that was attached to a strange helmet, a dirty, old wand that could have belonged as far back in time as Merlin, and many other things.

Draco was gaping. "I didn't even know this was here!" he gasped, shocked. "This is…almost the secret stash of Death-Eaters. These artifacts and tools are ridiculously unique and old." He went over to the silver machine. "This sucks out someone's magic! It makes them into a muggle!" He picked up the wand, "This is Merlin's wand. There was some prophecy about it, but I forget what it was. It was already fulfilled though, so who cares." He gasped and picked up a shining emerald necklace, "This is the amulet of Remy le Fay, the heir to Avalon! It's so old and so valuable! All these things have amazing magical properties!"

"What are they doing in the hands of Death-Eaters?" asked Genny, in awe.

"I don't think the Death-Eaters even knew about these. These must have been in the Malfoy family for generations. Since…since…before Voldemort!" Draco exclaimed. "It's amazing."

"Could they help us?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Probably not. We don't know how to use them," sighed Draco. "But it's still amazing."

"The many mysteries of the Malfoy Manor," grinned Hermione.

"Exactly," Draco replied with a smile.


	32. Chapter 32

_**Chapter 32**_

Hermione, Ron, Emily, and Ryan weren't very good at sneaking around. They weren't very good at being quiet. And they most certainly weren't very good at blending in.

"Hey, we're doing great so far!" Ron whispered loudly. "None of the Death Eaters have found us yet."

"We'll be dead in less than a minute if you don't keep your mouth shut," hissed Hermione.

Ron's face turned as red as the maroon sweater he was wearing. In the beautiful, large, well-designed, gold and emerald walls of Malfoy Manor, his sweater stuck out like a sore thumb.

Emily shushed them both and turned away muttering something that sounded slightly like, "totally useless," and "no idea how dangerous this is."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned to Emily. "Do you remember what Draco said about this place having weird spells. And how we could only get out of the basement if we split up," she whispered.

Emily's eyes widened. "So maybe to get into the basement….."

"Exactly! I once read about this spell where you can hide a place so that only people who are alone can find it. It was created by the enchantress Morgan Le Faye to hide her personal secret entrance to Avalon. She wanted to only be able to find it when she was alone."

"Are you suggesting we completely split up?"

"No! That's more danger than we'd ever need to risk. We just need to make someone think that they're alone and then they can find it."

They both smiled devilishly. You thinking who I'm thinking?" asked Emily.

"Oh yeah," nodded Hermione with a mischievous grin.

Emily quickly tapped Ryan on the shoulder and warned him to stay quiet. Hermione flicked her wand and suddenly….

"W…What!" Ron stuttered. He spun around, jumping like a crazy person to see where his companions could have disappeared to. "They're gone. Completely gone. I'm alone in Malfoy Manor. Blimey, this is not good. Okay, Ron. Calm down. It's up to you to rescue them. For once you get to be the hero, not Harry. And Hermione……….. Okay, I have to get this right...for her if not for everyone else."

Emily felt an invisible arm elbow her, and heard a slight giggle.

"Hello?" asked Ron, frantically.

Nobody replied. Ron panicked and spun around. He ran down the hall.

"Follow him," murmured Hermione in a low voice. They chased Ron down the hall, until they found him still in front of a wooden door that obviously did not fight in with the halls organized décor. It obviously hadn't been there on their way down the hall the first time. Ron threw open the door and jumped down the stairs, practically tripping and falling headfirst down the long flight of stairs. The bottom of the stairs were cold and damp. Small cells with bars led down another long hallway, seemingly located directly under the one above. It was disgusting and slimy. An awful place to be. Judging by the dust, people didn't come down here very often. But there was a line of fresh foot prints followed by some footprints that looked as if they had been dragged along.

"This is it," gasped Emily in amazement. Ron jumped.

"Who's there?"

"Oh…" everyone reappeared as Hermione waved her wand. "We were here the whole time, you silly boy. We had to do that spell so we could find the dungeon."

"You mean, you heard me earlier…."

"Yes, Ron. We heard you talking about Harry… and me."

Ron was silent, looking at his second hand sneakers. He glanced up at Hermione and his eyes caught hers. He reached for her hands, which she raised, blushing furiously.

"I really like you Hermione. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you," he finally said.

Emily chuckled. Hermione joined her. "Well, that was long in the coming," Hermione replied.

"You knew?"

"Of course, Ron. You're an open book."

"I'm a… what?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

"No, really, you like me because I'm a book?"

"Just forget it, Ron."

"How romantic," Emily giggled to Ryan.

"C'mon, let's go!" Hermione shrugged. She grinned knowingly back at Ron and raced down the hall, her three friends hot on her trail.

They heard a loud growl and froze.

"Uh oh," Emily shivered. "Professor Lupin?"

Harry, Genny, Jon, Draco and Seamus dug through the closet one last time.

"Look here," pointed Draco. "It looks like something was just moved. Everything has been thrown to the side next to it, but below it everything's organized and sitting straight up. Somebody took something."

"So somebody knows that this stuff is down here," Harry acknowledged.

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Seamus.

Draco shrugged and responded, "Could be."

"Oh. I hate this place! I just wanna get out. Where's Lucy and Gabrielle? The Order should have found them already," Genny complained

"It could take days to find them. Not a few hours. We need to keep going. There has to be a way out," Draco urged.

"There!" pointed Jon. Another door was in the wall ahead of them. "That definitely wasn't there before."

Draco swore. "Stupid spell. Let's just get out of here. It could bring us to any place in the house."

Behind the door was an enormous, elegant bedroom, with an enormous emerald colored bed in the center.

Seamus whistled. "Nice place you got, Malfoy."

Draco was completely pale. Paler then normally that is…"This is my parent's room. I'm not allowed in here."

"Technically you're not allowed to turn traitor and help the good guys into your house either," joked Harry.

"My former house, you mean," said Draco glumly. "After this I'll be disowned for sure. A fiery glint shone in his eye as he looked up at the others, "But you know what, I don't really mind. I'll miss my mother a bit, but there was never much here for me. Except money and influence. But I won't need that anymore. Not the kind my father has anyway."

"I'm glad you're on our side now, Draco," said Genny, slapping him on the back. "I always knew you had a good side to you."

"Even when I was practically working for Voldemort?"

She shrugged. "Pretty much, then too. So, where to from here?"

"It depends what happened to those two girls and the Order. If they were captured, they're in the dungeons downstairs. If not, they could be in a trap or just wandering around. It also depends on where we're trying to go now."

"Assuming they're fine, how are we going to stop the Death Eaters from taking over despite Voldemort being," Harry gulped, "killed."

Draco disregarded Harry's unconfortableness with killing Voldemort and replied, "I believe they're all in the main ballroom downstairs. That's where Voldemort held most of his meeting when he was in power."

"You mean alive," muttered Seamus. Genny elbowed him sharply.

"There's a room next to it on the second floor. There's a small hole in the wall where I used to watch the Death Eater meeting. Before I was allowed to come to them, that is. I used to sneak out of my bedroom to watch."

"So where is your bedroom, Draco?" Draco blushed. "Down the hall. But you don't want to go in there."

"Why not? Embarassing?" Genny grinned devilishly.

Draco blushed even more.

"Don't worry about it. My cousin Ron still sleeps with a blanket," Genny said matter-of-factly.

"Genny! You can't go around telling people that!" Harry laughed with disbelief.

"Well, it's true."

Draco led them to the room on the second floor that he had mentioned. They gathered around the small hole in the wall, all trying to peer through it.

"Did I mention I was much younger when I used this?" Draco added.

"Forget it, Mal…er, Draco. You said you knew a way to get their wands. How?" Harry interrupted.

"Well, not trying to be a know-it-all, but couldn't we just accio their wands?" Jon suggested. Everyone laughed.

"Smart," said Harry as he shook his head.

"Definitely a Granger," agreed Draco.

"I'll do it," decided Harry. I know I can cast a powerful enough summoning charm to get all of their wands. The practice for the Triwizard Tournament really pays off."

"Plus it kept you from getting clobbered by You-Know-Who," said Seamus.

"Accio!"

Genny reached her hand through the hole and grabbed the wands. She had to angle her wrist to pull the wands through the hole.

"They'll notice any second. Hurry up!" murmured Harry.

Genny yanked the wands through and handed them to Harry. Harry and Draco took turns breaking them on their knees.

"Now they can't protect themselves. But….now what?" Jon asked.

Nobody answered. They hadn't thought that far in advance.

"Well, maybe we could…no…" began Jon.

"What?" everyone shouted at him, immediately covering their mouths afterwards. Luckily nobody heard them.

"I think we need to get downstairs. Find the Order. While the Death Eaters are panicking and trying to find their wands, we can form a plan involving everyone. We need some people with more experience than us."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Emily ran down the hall. She had lost track of the others, but desperately hoped they were close behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. They weren't. But Lupin was. Emily glanced back forward, and skidded to a stop. A dead end! She should have been paying attention.

"Nice wolfy." She hyperventilated as she backed herself up against the wall. She glanced out the window next to her. The sun was rising! Why was Lupin still a werewolf? 'Wait! A window!!!' she thought. Without a moments hesitation, she threw herself towards the window. The wolf that was her dad leaped at her….and Emily ducked. The wolf flew through the window and landed two stories below. Wincing, Emily peeked over the window still. Lupin was okay. He was growling and staring up at the window. Emily stuck her tongue out.

"You okay, Ems?" asked Ryan, as he, Ron, and Hermione raced up to her.

"Sure. I'm just lucky this window was here….in the same hallway as the underground dungeon???"

"Maybe the Manor's built on a hill. Forget it. This place is an asylum. It was built by lunatics, inhabited by lunatics, maybe we're even lunatics for coming here," Ryan shrugged.

"Luna is right. The moon's gone done and Lupin's still a wolf," Hermione shivered.

"What does that have to do with Luna? She's back at Hogwarts," Ron asked, completely confused, his face turning red with befuddlement.

Hermione threw her arms around him. "I love you, you tall clueless boy."

Ron was taken aback. "No, seriously. What do you mean?"

Emily answered for Hermione. "Luna is the latin word for moon. It still refers to the moon in English though. Lunatic used to be a term for someone who went mad during the full moon. Now it just means all around crazy. The term probably refers to werewolves somehow."

"So what does that mean for us?" asked Ryan.

"It means something's wrong with the werewolves. Lupin shouldn't still be in his wolf form." Emily answered, her brown eyes drawn to the sun rising into the pink toned sky.

"It's not all werewolves, Emily," Hermione explained. "If it was… well, things would be different." She exchanged a look with Ryan and Ron.

"What?" Emily demanded.

"Forget it. We'll tell you later. For now, let's go find the others and the Order. I hope Harry, Draco, Genny, Jon, and Seamus got out of the basement okay."

"Hmmmm… I wonder," said an amused voice from behind them. They turned to see Harry, grinning with Draco, Genny, Jon, and Seamus right behind him. "We destroyed the Death Eaters wands," he explained. "They're powerless now. We decided that we needed the Order. We can't take out fifty plus wizards alone."

"So have you seen the Order, and Lucy and Gabby?" asked Genny eagerly.

Hermione shook her head. "No, sorry. They have to be down here somewhere though. By the way, look out this window."

The others looked out the window. Emily moved to the side. Genny screamed when she saw Lupin below them, as a giant man-eating monster.

"Something's wrong," Harry said seriously.

"You're telling us. Why would one werewolf still be a werewolf after the sun has risen?" Jon asked.

"It might be more than one werewolf," offered Emily. Everyone else looked at her, and then shook their heads. "What is with you people? What I just said makes perfect sense. Maybe Lupin got stuck or something. Or the Death Eaters did it to him. I-"

"That's it!" said Hermione, her eyes brightening with the intelligence that often was shown when she was figuring out a difficult spell. "Lucius Malfoy must have found a way to make being a werewolf more permanent. Who knows how long it'll last. But it would help him, because Fenrir Greyback would be able to bite more children and assist the Death Eaters. But they must have found some way for him to keep his human intelligence." She was grinning now, biting her lip as she thought on. "Or maybe the spell affects werewolves it's placed on and Lupin was caught and had it cast on him. Or—"

"The closet!" exclaimed Draco. "We found a closet with a ton of powerful magic tools. Something was recently taken out. Maybe my father found a way to make the change permanent."

"But that means…" interrupted Ron.

"We need to save Professor Lupin!" said Harry. "Okay, so, what'll we do? The Order's in this hallway somewhere. The Death Eaters don't have wands. There's a werewolf on the loose and Ron, you're going to need to stop squeezing Hermione's hand. It's distracting me."

Ron apologized and quickly let go of her hand.

"So let's find the Order. They'll know what to do." Hermione pointed down the hall. There's a hall branching off a little bit back. There were cells down that way, too. I bet that's where they are if they were captured. Or Gabby and Lucy, of course."

"As worried as I am for them, I think they actually might be better off in a cell than in our fight," Harry decided aloud.

"Harry!" shouted Genny.

"Just kidding," Harry replied meekly. They ran down the hall. A few cells down there were some prisoners.

"Kids?" asked one of the voices. "Oh god, you're here. Where's Shacklebolt? We told you to stay outside! And those two other girls."

"Sorry, Doge. Shacklebolt's outside, knocked out. We lost track of Luciana and Gabrielle and still can't find them," one of the kids called out.

"No time, to argue. We need to get to Malfoy and the others to find out how to change Lupin back," said Harry.

"I thought we wanted to find the Order and everyone and get out," Ron asked, surprised.

"That was before it became personal," said Emily darkly. She pulled out her wand and, with help from Hermione, managed to get the Order free.

"If we find the Death Eaters first, we have a better chance. No offense to Lucy and Gabby but I don't know how well they can hold their own in a fight." Said Genny

"Hey! Guys? Is that you?" a voice called from one of the cells down the hall. Genny blushed and said, "I hope they didn't hear that."

One everyone was out, there was a huge group of people standing in the dungeon waiting for instructions on where to go, so Emily took charge.

"We know the Death Eaters are in a big room, and we suspect that the reason Lupin's still in werewolf form is their fault. Plus, none of them have wands. Draco, you lead the way, because this is, sorry 'was', your house."

The group, as quietly as eleven teenagers and a bunch of Order members could, marched down to the Malfoy Manor Grand Hall. They waited patiently at the large wooden doors for everyone to catch up, and then burst in with their wands out.

Total chaos erupted in the Manor. Being kept in the same room, the Death Eaters were stunned, and jinxed in every way imaginable. They fought back, until they were cornered with only a few still standing upright. Without their wands, this was the easiest task of all. Emily took count, glancing over the Death Eaters.

"Where's Malfoy?" Emily asked suddenly. Ron opened his mouth, but Emily inteupted, saying, "Lucius, not Draco."

"Lucky, ludicrous Lucius," spat Bellatrix Lestrange. "Always getting his own way. He wants to take over from the Dark Lord? Psh. He's hopeless compared to Lord Voldemort."

Harry held up his wand. "Where is he?"

"He made a run for it, towards the gardens," another Death Eater, named Amicos, shrugged with disgust.

Emily glanced at Harry. "For what he and You-Know-Who did, he's mine."

"Be my guest," Harry agreed, gesturing her towards the door.

"Now wait just a second," objected Mrs. Weasley.

"I'll go with her Aunt Molly," Genny said quickly. "So will Jon." She grabbed Jon and the three ran out.

"Whatever he did to Lupin," Emily muttered between clenched teeth. "He's going to pay for." With the gardens just ahead, she sped up, and raced into the hedge maze where footprints from expensive boots had been made in the fine soil.

Emily sprinted through twists and turns, often finding herself at a dead end. Finally, she found him. Mr. Malfoy was huddling over a bizarre machine, fiddling quickly with the dials. He was twitching worse than Pettigrew had. When he heard Emily behind him, he snapped around and growled.

"What are you doing here, girl?"

"Getting revenge for what Voldemort did. Ripping apart my family. Making me lose my dad, and later my mom. You wanted to take over for Voldemort, didn't you? That includes taking credit for all of the horrible things he'd done. You're dead, Malfoy. Dead."

"Emily!" Genny called. She stopped in her tracks as she saw her mot hated family member kneeling on the earthy ground. Her expression changed to one of intense hatred. "Hello Lucius."

"Hello, Genny. How's my favorite little Death Eater? Those crazy griffins and muggle-lovers treating you well? I heard you lived with both muggles and the Weasleys. Could you even tell the difference or were they all too disgusting to tell apart?" Lucius smirked, flinching when Emily glared at him for it. He turned back to his machine.

"What's that you have there?" Emily demanded. Lucius replied, without looking at her, "a certain machine my former Master found in my Manor. It is the final key to my power. Fenrir Greyback asked me to fix it for him in return for his services. It will be able to transform into a werewolf into wolf form anytime they want, and always keep their human intelligence. I believe my Master tested it on your father. Stupid man, getting in our way. We meant to capture just him, but getting the entire Order was the jackpot! I'm afraid he's now stuck in werewolf form, and always will be."

Emily lunged forward, but Jon, who had finally arrived, grabbed her shirt and held her back. Malfoy smiled maliciously at them. "How cute, young love. Well, if you will excuse me, I have unfinished business with this machine. And without the spells I cast preventing apparition here, I will be free to leave at my leisure. Goodbye, Genny, boy,…" he nodded at each of them in turn, and paused when he got to Emily, "werewolf ." With a laugh he disapparated. Genny leaped forward, but he had gone.

"Damn!" Genny cried. "He's gone.

Jon smirked. "At Durmstrang we were taught some very weird things, including how to avert disapparations. About now, Malfoy's landed in dungeons at Hogwarts, with no way to get out. Hermione told me all about the spells put on those dungeons."

"No wonder they always felt so freaky. Good job, Jon," Emiyl congratulated her friend. "But I still wish I could've killed him."

"Voldemort's dead. Isn't that enough," said Genny. "Besides, I bet the Dementors are just 'dying' to give Malfoy a kiss. I'm sure the ministry won't keep that happy privilege from them." She laughed, and Emily had to smile a bit, though she felt sick at the idea of the Dementor's kiss. She had been told all about it, and didn't know if it was right even for someone as awful as Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, I guess what's done is done. But he sure was confused. I'm no werewolf….even though my dad is," Emily sighed. "I wish he had told me before. Now I might never get to see him or my mom. Stupid machine thing."

"I'm sure Harry and Tonks will be just as sad once we tell them. We'd better get back to the Manor before everyone worries." Said Jon.

"No need, here they come." Said Genny.

Sure enough, the Order, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus, Luciana, Gabrielle, Seamus, and Draco, Ryan were coming down the lawn, levitating tied up and unconscious Death Eaters behind them.

"Where my father?" asked Draco.

"In a Hogwarts dungeon, probably soulless soon." Jon answered simply.

Draco shrugged. "He wasn't much of a father anyway."

Tonks flinched. "Ouch. Harsh."

"Look out!" called Mr. Weasley. The werewolf was racing towards them. Everyone held out their wands.

"Don't hurt him!" Emily shrieked.

Thick ropes flew from everyone's wands until Lupin was fully tied up, and unable to move. Tonks sniffed and wiped her eye. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's stuck in wolf form thanks to some stupid machine Malfoy got for Fenrir Greyback." Said Emily. She sadly looked down at the ground. "And I still haven't found my mom. She wasn't in the Manor."

So, Emily and her friends made it back to the castle. The Death Eaters were put in jail; some kissed by the Dementors and others left to beg forgiveness. The Order was successful and the world free from Voldemort. The partying and newspaper articles that followed were spectacular. However, this story has yet to near the end. For a little less then a month later, at the day before the full moon, Emily's friends had something very important to tell her which they had neglected to mention in the while since the Manor adventure. Draco, free from his father's influence, had also come to the fateful meeting. But alas, it was not to be a pretty one.

"So, what's up?" Emily asked as she settled into one of the comfortable chairs in the Prefect's Office. Hermione and Ron had gotten permission to allow everyone in there. The grim atmosphere lessened the excitement of it though. Everyone kept giving Emily these glances as if she might turn into a werewolf at any time.

"Well, umm….." Nobody wanted to say anything. Somehow, Ron made a joke about pickles which got everybody laughing. Soon, they began chatting… nothing harmful, just chatting like friends should always have a chance to do once in a while. The high-strung tension lessened, and they were actually having a good time. Seamus and Luciana were now dating, as were Hermione and Ron, and Draco and Genny. Emily and Jon were unofficially boyfriend and girlfriend but everyone knew they practically wanted to marry each other every other second of the day. Harry told everybody about how he was now dating Ginny without worrying about Voldemort going after her. Not having Voldemort around was a relief for Harry more than anyone. His whole life had been a game of fight or die. Now he could relax and be a normal teenage wizard. Well, as normal as possible anyway.

"So then I was like, 'what's with all the meat?' And Hannah was like, 'I was trying to do a spell to meet a cute boy." Everyone groaned at Ryan's awful story. Seamus grabbed a butterbeer and asked what Hannah did next.

Ryan shrugged. "She said there was noway to get rid of it without eating it all, so I told her she better go find a hungry werewolf to go finish it all." Ryan laughed loudly, but stopped when he realized he was laughing alone. "What?"

"You idiot," Ron whispered from next to him.

"What? I don't care. The Hospital said he'd be back to normal by the end of the week and I'd be able to see him then." Emily said.

"Emily, it's…it's not your dad we came here to talk about." Hermione winced.

"So what are we here for then anyway?" Emily laughed.

Solemnly, Genny took Emily's hand. "This is going to be hard to believe, but remember that time where you fainted at the Manor. You didn't remember what happened. Well, there was more to it. You were, you were…." Genny looked away.

"You turned into a werewolf. Your dad bit you," Ron blurted out.

Emily was silent. "Guys, if this is just a really bad joke…?"

"We swear it isn't," promised Harry, his wide emerald eyes promising Emily as much as his voice. "He bit you and you turned into a werewolf. You're like him now. You have to accept that. I know you don't want to believe us. I remember when I found out Lupin was a werewolf. I was shocked."

"But that wasn't you?" Emily half-laughed, exasperated. It wouldn't get into her head. It couldn't be true. "You guys are trying to tell me that I'm a six foot tall monster who eats humans and will never get a respectable job. You want me to believe this?" Her stomach cramped, and Emily winced. She turned away, eyeing the periwinkle blue sky smiling through window. You could still see the moon, even though it was day. It was practically full.

"Emily, it's true," Jon sighed apologetically.

"No!" Emily stood up, pulling her hand from Genny. "Why are you all doing this to me? I have enough on my mind. Wouldn't I know if I was a werewolf too?"

"Your dad bit you in werewolf form. We were all there," said Hermione, shaking her head.

"No, no." Emily's breath was growing shorter. "Prove it. No, it's not true."

Jon gave Hermione a look. Hermione held up a silver bullet. "I didn't want to do this. Emily, hold out your hand."

Emily gave her a look and slapped her right hand onto the table, their chairs were situated around. Hermione held the bullet just above Emily's hand. A searing pain shot through Emily's arm. She yanked her hand back and glared at Hermione.

"What was that?"

"The only known thing that can kill a werewolf is a silver bullet. But being near one hurts them." Draco explained.

Emily vaguely remembered reading that, but at this point that was what she least wanted to hear. "But, but, I'm not….." she turned to Jon, and wept on his shoulder. He had risen to comfort her, patting her shoulder. "This is all my dad's fault." Emily managed to shout through her tears. (A student passing by the open door at this point looked extremely confused. Harry closed the door on his face with a quick spell.)

"It's not Lupin's fault. It's Voldemort's. He's the one who wanted to get information from your dad. He sent the rat man to your house and scared your mother away. This is Voldemort's doings. But he's dead. Harry killed him," Gabrielle tried to convince her crying friend.

Emily would not be comforted. For nearly half of an hour, she stood, leaning on Jon, crying. Her friends did not want to leave her, so they remained in the Prefect Office together.

Finally, McGonnagal came in looking more solemn than before. She knew about Emily's werewolf bite too, but this seemed to be even worse, judging by the tears in McGonnagal's eyes. Harry went up to her. Mcgonnagal held a hand up to cover her face, and handed Harry a paper. Then she went to one of the big chairs and sunk into it, her hands in her hands.

Harry skimmed the paper, his eyes widened, and his hand covered his mouth. Genny came over and ripped the paper from his hands. She read it and let out a loud gasp. Her eyes flicked to Emily, and then back to the paper.

"What?" Emily said, trying to cover up the scratchy voice she always got when she cried.

Genny turned, holding the paper to her chest, as if this would keep Emily from reading it.

"Genny, please. Just give it to me," Emily begged. Genny shook her head, but handed Emily the paper. Emily looked down, and collapsed to the ground, her head in her hands, tears flowing down her face. Jon and Ryan tried to help her stand up, but the wailing Emily kept pulling downwards.

Genny, tears forming in her eyes too, said, "Professor MGonnagal, is it true?"

"She's gone, Emily. Leila's gone." She shook her head sadly. "There was never a more perfectly matched couple then she and your dad. It's as if they were created to be together, chain link connecting to chain link."

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. She clung to Jon harder and he patted her on the back soothingly. "My perfect family," cried Emily to herself. "So much for me having an 'oh so perfect' family. I'll always be one parent short thanks to Voldemort." She slammed herself at Jon. "Why did he have to do this? Destroy families. Destroy lives. What warped him into doing it? No," she wiped her eyes and pushed herself off of Jon. "No, I don't care. My life is disaster. There's no point anymore." She ran for the window, but Harry and Ron grabbed her tightly around the waist. "Please let me go," she struggled, crying. "Let me jump. There's nothing left to live for!"

"Not even for me?" An old, beat-up shoe placed itself slowly into the Hospital Wing. The tattered pants above it led to a muddy, old shirt; the shirt to second-hand robes, and finally to the weary face of Remus Lupin. He stood, waiting to be greeted, but nobody stood. Emily turned away. "You made me a werewolf," she said calmly, but with tears still streaming from her eyes. "I don't know you anymore."

Everyone gasped. Lupin's face fell. "I went to another of Voldemort's headquarters as soon as I was released from the hospital this morning. I found that Leila had died. She had hidden at a friend's house, hoping you would be okay by yourself. She was so concerned for you that she didn't want you to know what was going on, or even to go to Hogwarts. But when she came back to find the house destroyed, she was captured by Voldemort. She gave her life trying to find you."

Emily cried more than anybody ever should have to that day. But her friends and her father tried to support her. Tonks came by and wept with them too. Even though she had not known Leila, she had heard all about her from Remus.

Leila was dead. Emily's mother. Her best friend in the world. The only person she could trust for her entire life excepting this school year. One lousy year. They hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. Leila hadn't had a chance to tell Emily the truth, or to apologize for not telling her about Remus Lupin. She hadn't even been able to see her grown daughter and husband standing together, bravely fighting to find her. She was gone.

Emily felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Her eyes, filling with tears, never left the sight of her mom.

"I don't know what to say," Lupin began. His voice cracked, and a tear dripped onto Emily's shoulder. He was crying too. Emily turned around and hugged him. She burrowed her face into his worn and dirty robes. He didn't smell fatherly, but she had finally found a comfortable place… in his arms. Even though he had made her a monster, he was all she had left now.

"Dad," she whispered, biting her lip. Her breathing was ragged, and her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn't believe it. Life is something fragile. It's like glass, and when somebody tips the glad off of a table while people are still in the midst of enjoying it, it disrupts everything. The observers cover their ears to keep the sound of breaking from ruining their perfect scene. They close their eyes, bracing themselves for the impact of change. Well, this piece of glass had been broken too soon.

"I'm here, Emily. Always, here," replied Lupin, hugging her even tighter as they cried together over their family member. Now their broken family of three was a tightly woven fabric of two.

Tonks came over, her head down and her hair a dull brown. She looked up directly into Emily's eyes and simply said, "I'm sorry." It was enough. Emily opened her arms, and invited Tonks to join their group hug; to join their family. It would always be strange, but it felt right. Righter than living without a father. Righter than worrying whether or not Leila was alright. Emily now knew what had happened, and there was nothing to do. She couldn't go into the past, and even if she could, she wouldn't. As much as she would miss Leila, their family was stronger than ever. Death was just another part of life, even if it wasn't yet Leila's time to die.

"The circle of life," Genny whispered from across the room. "I guess Disney's right. You just need to keep going.

Emily glanced up at her friends, strongly and bravely. There were the people who had helped her along. They had helped her get through this difficult time and always would help her too. Genny stood with Draco, his arms wrapped around her. Luciana and Gabrielle and Seamus, who had been swept hopelessly into the twisted adventure, stood by, all sad for their friend's loss and any good pal should be. Hermione was looking quickly through a book and Ron was holding her hand, and looking like they didn't know what to do. Harry stood by them protectively, staring off into space as if deep in thought. Ryan remained in the corner, shaking his head.

And then Emily met Jon's eyes. He faced her, his wide brown eyes telling so much. He was sad for her, but so happy she survived. Scared, because he wasn't sure what would happen next. And maybe a little bit jealous that it had been Ryan, and not Jon himself who had leapt in front of Emily.

"I love you," she mouthed to him. He blushed, biting his lip. Then, with a guilty smile, mouthed a reply of, "Me too."

Emily mouthed back, "But we can't do much about it until we're older."

Jon looked confused. Emily smiled. "Too long?" she mouthed. He just nodded in relief.

Emily looked back up at her dad. "Let's go back to real life now," she whispered, drying her eyes. Whatever the future held, she would be ready. Whether fighting the dark arts, or gossiping with her friends, Emily had a great life… and it was time for her to appreciate it!

THE END….. but wait! There's more?

Hermione jumped up. "I found it! I found it!" She sounded so excited that it drowned out the sober aura of everyone else.

"What is it that could be so important now?" asked Ryan, rolling his eyes.

"Well, the cure for being a werewolf, for one thing," Hermione said, her voice squeaking with excitement. "I started researching it as soon as Emily was bitten. And I finally found the final key to unlocking the answer. Even though it sounds so cheesy, it's simple. Love. It's like Dumbledore, bless him, always said. And most werewolves were so hated that they had never fallen in love with a non-werewolf. You two are probably the first. And Lupin, you and Tonks have been separated for a while, working on order stuff. I doubt you ever did more than kiss on the check, right?"

Tonks and Lupin both nodded.

"Well, I think a kiss on the lips with somebody you're deeply in love with would work. Or even, the love you two felt just moments ago when you were hugging and comforting each other may have been enough.

Lupin and Emily smiled at each other. "I wish you had been around in my day, Hermione," Lupin sighed. "You really are one of the greatest witches of the age."

Hermione blushed. "You'll still have to take precautions for a while, of course. In case I'm wrong…."

Emily grinned mischieviously. "So we may be cured already, but still. We may not to kiss someone on the lips." She was looking at Jon as she said this. She raised her eyebrow. Emily leaned onto Jon, standing closer to him than she had ever stood to anyone else. She reached up towards his lips with her own. And they kissed. _'Really' _kissed.


	34. The Alternate Ending

**Alternate Ending……**

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. She clung to Jon harder and he patted her on the back soothingly. "My perfect family," cried Emily to herself. "So much for me having an 'oh so perfect' family. I'll always be one parent short thanks to Voldemort." She slammed herself at Jon. "Why did he have to do this? Destroy families. Destroy lives. What warped him into doing it? No," she wiped her eyes and pushed herself off of Jon. "No, I don't care. My life is disaster. There's no point anymore." She ran for the window, but Harry and Ron grabbed her tightly around the waist.

She struggled frantically to get free, but they pushed her against the wall. She dropped, hopeless. They finally loosened their hold. Emily, sensing an escape, stood slowly and made a mad dash to the window. She threw her arms out to the side and leaped, the wind rushing past her ears. It felt as if she was floating, without the actual rising sensation. The green ground below her seemed to be rising up as if to welcome her graciously to its deathly impact. The clouds extended to the sides, and from the corner of her eye she could see as far as the horizon. Tears in her eyes, she glanced back up at her friends, sorry that she would never see them again. She saw their wands raised, desperately casting spells to try and save her, but her determination was too strong for magic. The last thing she ever saw was Lupin leaning out the window calling, "Emily, it's okay! You're mother's alive!!!" Emily suddenly felt regret at the thought of jumping out of the window. She tried to call back, "I'm sorry!", but it was too late for words. Death had claimed her.

And then a nuclear bomb exploded and the world blew up anyway so it didn't even matter.

THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


End file.
